Foreword
From Cllr Rebecca Harvey, H&F Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion & Community Safety
Building a safer community for all
Hammersmith & Fulham is a vibrant borough, full of world-class entertainment, sports and shopping destinations. Every day, thousands of people come to enjoy what our borough has to offer.
Whether you call H&F home, work here, or are just passing through, your safety is our top priority. At the heart of this success lies a multifaceted approach to community safety.
Last year, we invested nearly £10 million into fighting crime. It's an investment in our community's safety – and it's paying off. Despite the crowds we attract, H&F has the fourth lowest crime rate per 1,000 visitors in all of London.
We've made big improvements to help keep the streets safe. Our CCTV camera network is quickly becoming the most technologically advanced in Britain, thanks to a £1.7-million upgrade. These cameras have spotted nearly 5,000 incidents and helped police arrest over 500 people.
On the ground, our Law Enforcement Team is making a real difference. They're out every day, dealing with anti-social behaviour and working with the police to make sure our borough stays clean and safe.
Protecting vulnerable groups remains a key focus.
Our work to tackle violence against women and girls has helped reduce sexual offences by 5% compared to last year. And we're bringing in new rules to crack down on street harassment further, with fines of up to £1,000 for offenders.
We've also supported over 425 survivors through our pioneering Angelou partnership, helping them rebuild their lives. A £1 million investment in our domestic abuse refuge provision last year means safer accommodation options for survivors.
With hate crime on the rise across London, our Prevent team has engaged extensively with community groups and schools, reaching over 1,400 local students to educate them about Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and available support services to get help when they need it.
All this work is part of our promise to make Hammersmith & Fulham a safe place for everyone. We know there's always more work to do, and we are working closely with our partners to make it happen.
Our message is clear: in H&F, safety comes first.
2023 in Summary
- Invested £1m in our domestic abuse refuge provision by purchasing additional accommodation provision.
- Our Law Enforcement Team continued to have an impact across the borough, 98,667 patrols were completed and 5,621 weapon sweeps in 2023.
- Our Modern Slavery and Exploitation work achieved a rating of substantive assurance during an audit of the work being completed in borough.
- Improvements were made to the physical environment to improve safety on Shepherd's Bush Green including enhanced lighting and fencing.
- 4,896 incidents have been captured by our CCTV cameras leading to the arrest of 535 people.
- Established the sex industry MARAC to bring together statutory and non statutory services to create a proactive, multi agency, holistic approach to identify and support individuals within the sex industry.
Investment in Community Safety in 23-24
- £1m to support our Gangs violence and exploitation unit to dismantle gangs and support young people, their families and communities.
- £4.5m to fund the Law Enforcement Team to keep H&F residents and visitors safe and drive down environmental crime and anti-social behaviour.
- £1.4m to support the Youth Justice Service to reduce offending by children and young people.
- £1.7m invested to further upgrade our CCTV network - the densest in Britain. It means we can help the police step in faster and keep residents safe.
- £1m for new domestic abuse refuge provision providing supported accommodation to victims and survivors of domestic abuse.
Crime profile for H&F in 2023-2024
How did crime change in 2023 and how does H&F compare?
Offences have grown by 10% in Hammersmith and Fulham in the last year 2022 to 2023 as crime levels return to a level closer to that seen before the pandemic, total offences are still 6% below those in 2019. The majority of crime types remain below the levels observed in 2019. London overall saw an increase of 6% in 2023 compared to 2022.
Hammersmith & Fulham is a busy borough and has a high daily footfall, particularly around Westfield. Crime and footfall are closely linked, and despite a high level of footfall, the borough ranks the 4th lowest across London for crime rate per 1,000 average daily footfall for visitors. Crime continues to be concentrated around high footfall areas in Shepherd's Bush Green and Hammersmith Broadway which account for 26% of all offences in 2023.
One of the largest increases in offence volume was for theft, which remains the largest offence type, accounting for 30% of all offences and has been rising, with a +15% increase on last year however this is lower than an 18% increase in London. The rise in theft can be attributed to proactive measures taken by our local police force to encourage stores to report theft to help identify perpetrators more effectively and ultimately reduce the number of thefts in the long run.
Priority areas such as Violence without Injury (+7%) and Hate Crime (+16%) have risen above the pre-pandemic levels. They also recorded a significantly higher count of crime when compared to the last 6 years. Hate crime offences have increased across London, particular after the escalation of the conflict in the middle east.
Total number of crimes
20,788 (+10% change previous year)
Most common crime
Theft - 6,169 (+15% change previous year)
Crime types that saw a decrease
Sexual offences - 427 (-5% change previous year)
Crimes that are lower than pre-pandemic levels (2019)
Theft, vehicles offences, violence with injury, burglary, arson & criminal damage, drug offences, robbery, miscellaneous crimes against society, possession of weapons, knife enabled, domestic abuse offences.
London benchmarking
Rate per 1,000 population
112.5
7th place
no change from the previous year
Volume of crime
20,614
24th place
no change from previous year
% of crime incidents in H&F contribute to the London total
2.5%
H&F: 20,614
London: 842,635
Rate per 1,000 average daily footfall
38.25
29th place
Where is crime taking place?
Shepherd's Bush and Hammersmith Broadway remain the wards with the highest level of crime and College Park and Old Oak is a ward that has seen increasing offences with a third more offences in 2023 than 2022 and above that of pre-pandemic levels. Positively, wards such as Avonmore, Munster and Wormholt have seen a decrease in the number of offences.
When considering the volume of crimes, offences are concentrated around the main town centres and transport hubs in the borough, which is a similar trend over the last 6 years.
Of all offences in 2023, 20% happen in 27 smaller 100m2 areas which is 1% of the borough – mainly around Hammersmith Broadway and Shepherd's Bush.
The highest number of offences by 100m2 areas were found for Westfield Shopping Centre (553 and 385 offences) where thefts are particularly common. Westfield, as a place of large population movements during the day, attracts offenders and therefore it experiences proportionately higher levels of thefts. There is a proven significant relationship between the impact of daily footfall on crimes.
Wards with the highest number of crime
2,527 Hammersmith Broadway
2,834 Shepherd's Bush Green
Wards with highest increases in crime
+33% College Park & Old Oak
+25% Fulham Town
+17% Shepherd's Bush Green
Wards with decreases in crime
-7% Avonmore
-6% Munster
-6% Wormholt
Reflecting on our 2023-2024 priorities and achievements
Priority: Gangs & serious violent crime
The Serious Violence Duty came into force on 31st January 2023, introduced by the Police, Crime Sentencing and Court Act 2022. The definition of serious violence for the purpose of the serious violence duty is any violence and exploitation affecting young people under the age of 25, domestic abuse and sexual violence. Within the context of these types of violence, it encompasses homicide, grievous bodily harm, actual bodily harm, rape, assault by penetration, sexual assault, personal robbery, threats to kill and violence against property. The latter offences are considered under the 'violence against women and girls' priority. A detailed strategic assessment and strategy was completed in January 2024 including a list of recommendations on tackling serious violence in the borough.
Last year there were over 5.2k offences relating to violence against the person. The majority (67%) relate to non-violent crimes with assault without injury, communication with intent to cause distress, and harassment being the main non violent offences.
Offences involving violence with injury (including Grievous Bodily Harm, Actual Bodily Harm and Attempted Murder) there has been a small increase since 2022 of 2%. The proportion of offences leading to injury has fallen. In 2018, 93% of offences involved injury to the victim, compared to 81% in 2023. This is a similar picture of knife injuries where the proportion decreased from 5.3% in 2018 to 4.3% in 2023.
Achievements in 2023
- Successful bid for a Community Capacity Building grant to tackle serious violence on the White City Estate. The Community Capacity Building grant enabled the Gangs Violence and Exploitation Unit, in conjunction with our voluntary and community sector partners and the community, to deliver the late-night project, half term residential, Rebel Records project, parent/carer sessions workshops, meetings and training to residents of the White City Estate.
- Continuation of the Rebel Records project for young people, which has now been delivered to 6 cohorts of young people.
- Following another successful grant application to the Violence Reduction Unit, the GVEU now has a Community Development Outreach Worker to effectively engage with the community and deliver projects.
- The Gangs Violence and Exploitation Unit have successfully recruited to the role of Enforcement Officer to assist with taking enforcement action.
- The Gangs Violence and Exploitation Unit also have recruited a therapeutic mental health practitioner to support young people and families.
Key Figures January – December 23
- Violence against the person - 5,253
- Violence with injury - 1,749
- Violence with Injury – excluding Domestic (under 25 year olds) -420
- Weapons sweeps completed by Law Enforcement Team - 5,621
- Number of young people supported by the Gangs Violence and Exploitation Unit - 53
Priority : Prevent
Prevent is one of the four strands of the Government's Counter Terrorism Strategy, CONTEST. It seeks to safeguard vulnerable children and adults from being drawn into extremism and terrorism. Under the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, all Local Authorities are subject to a duty in the exercise of their functions, to have "due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism". This duty is known as the Prevent duty. It applies to a wide range of public-facing bodies including schools and education providers.
Our Prevent Team is now funded by the H&F council as Home Office funding was stopped.
Achievements in 2023
- Continuous engagement with our communities especially during the Israel / Palestine war, providing a safe space where concerns and sentiments can be shared.
- The Prevent Advisory Group and the Faith Forum wrote to the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary in December and lobbied for a meeting, to express their concerns about the impact of the ongoing war on their communities.
- Our Prevent advisory group received training on tackling Antisemitism and Islamophobia.
- Working and consulting with faith and community partners on adopting a definition of Islamophobia.
- Delivered training to over 1400 young people in schools.
- Supporting the Palestine Mission when they were being repeatedly targeted with paint attacks and threats of harm via postal mail and email following the start of the Gaza war. Following partnership working with our CCTV service and supporting the police, the person responsible for the paint attacks was identified and arrested.
- Faith forum visit to Wormwood Scrubs Prison to understand how faith communities can support the prison.
Key Figures January – December 23
- Referrals to Prevent - 21
- Education queries received - 14
- Council officers trained - 124
- School staff trained - 1,159
- School pupils engaged - 1,410
- Community Engagements - 209
Priority: Violence against women and girls
Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a key priority for both Hammersmith & Fulham Council and the Metropolitan Police Service. VAWG is also within the remit of the Serious Violence Duty and key recommendations and data analysis are included in our Serious Violence Duty Strategy.
The Angelou Partnership has been commissioned by Hammersmith & Fulham Council to deliver the borough's VAWG services. The Angelou Partnership brings together the specialism of ten organisations to deliver a streamlined and holistic approach to tackling issues that disproportionally affect women and girls.
The H&F VAWG Board oversees the H&F VAWG Strategy and is instrumental in driving forward our response. The board is jointly chaired by the Police Superintendent of Public Protection and the Operational Director of Childrens and Young People's Services. The Metropolitan Police established their own VAWG Board in 2023 and this is attended by the local authority.
Of the sexual offences reported to the police in 2023, 86% of victims were women ( of offences where there was an identified victim). 37% of suspects were known to the victim.
The council established a Sex Industry MARAC in October 2022 to bring together services to support individuals working in the sex industry.
Achievements in 2023
- Invested £1m in domestic abuse refuge provision by purchasing additional accommodation provision enhancing our supported accommodation offer for victims and survivors
- The H&F Specialist Domestic Abuse Court (SDAC) was recognised as a best practice model and acted as a national mentor court as part of a two-year project to undertake a national review of DA courts across the country.
- Introduced a Pan-London perpetrator programme "Drive" in H&F.
- 2 Successful bids to deliver additional programmes. One focusing on healthy relationship in schools to address sexual harassment and gender-based violence. The second will deliver a 2 year Culturally Informed Family Approach (CIFA) programme to provide interventions with perpetrators of domestic abuse.
- Delivered multi-agency women's safety operations with police, Law Enforcement Team, licencing and third sector partners. These have included Ask for Angela 'test purchases' (to test licensed premises response to VAWG and the level of support offered to victims) and welfare visits to sexual entertainment premises.
Key Figures January – December 23
- Sexual Offences – 427 (Ranked 8th out of 32 London Boroughs)
- Rape Offences 117 (Decrease of 17% from 2022)
- Domestic Abuse Offences- 1,744( Increased by 5% compared to 2022)
- Stalking Offences -135 (Decreased by 28.6% compared to 2022)
- MARAC referrals – 425 (Multi agency risk assessment conference to discuss high risk domestic abuse incidents)
- Sex Industry MARAC - 31 (Addresses referred)
Priority: Hate crime
A hate crime is defined as 'Any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person's race or perceived race; religion or perceived religion; sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation; disability or perceived disability and any crime motivated by hostility or prejudice against a person who is transgender or perceived to be transgender'.
664 hate crimes were reported to the police in 2023. This is an increase of 16.3% from last year. In H&F, the current rate of hate crime is 3.5 per 1,000 resident population and this is higher than the London rate at 2.7.
There was a peak of hate crime offences in October 2023 for antisemitic, racist and faith offences for both Hammersmith & Fulham and London, which is very likely linked to the escalation of the Gaza-Israel conflict.
Most hate crimes relate to racist or religious crime, with homophobic as the next highest category of offence.
Achievements in 2023
- Established a H&F Hate Crime Steering Group.
- Commenced work on a new hate crime strategy including completing consultation with residents, third sector organisations, businesses and other partners in the borough.
- Delivered a programme of events for Hate Crime Awareness Week, including crime prevention and awareness raising stalls across our town centres run in partnership with the Police, Law Enforcement Team and Anti-Social Behaviour Team.
- Hate crime awareness training was delivered to 310 professionals across H&F.
- A deep drive data analysis into hate crime incidents in the borough was completed to ensure the new strategy and action plan is data informed and targets support to those most in need.
Key Figures January – December 23
- Hate crimes – 664 (Increase of 16.3% compared to last year)
- Rate of hate crimes- 3.5 per 1k (H&F ranks 6th highest of 32 boroughs)
- Religious and racist crime - 589
- Antisemitic hate crime - 22
- Islamophobic hate crime - 36
- Homophobic crime - 94
- Disability hate crime - 23
- Transgender hate crime- 9
Priority : Combating drugs
The H&F combating drugs partnership (CDP) was formed in early 2023 to provide local leadership and ensure effective partnership working to deliver on the 2021 National Drug Strategy 'From Harm to Hope: a Ten-Year Drugs Plan to Cut Crime and Save Lives'.
The partnership has a strategic remit to reduce the following risks in H&F: drug use, drug-related crime, and drug related deaths and harm. This is supported by intermediate outcomes to reduce drug supply, increase engagement in treatment, and improve recovery outcomes.
The 3 core priorities are to:
- Break supply chains
- Deliver a world-class treatment and recovery system - Treatment and Recovery
- Achieve a shift in the demand for recreational drugs – Prevention and Early Intervention.
Delivering on these includes ensuring that alcohol and drug related needs and priorities are identified across Hammersmith & Fulham; and promoting integration and partnership working to deliver service changes and priorities.
Achievements in 2023
- Over the last year H&F's Combating Drugs and Alcohol Partnership has grown in its membership and capacity and is better placed to monitor and plan for a reduction in the harm from drugs and alcohol.
- Improved rates of continuity of care for those accessing treatment upon release from Prison, exceeding the London average and keeping pace with the
national average. - Establishment of a Drug & Alcohol Related Deaths (DARD) panel to learn from and reduce substance misuse involved fatalities in H&F.
- Roll-out of a new, integrated drug and alcohol treatment service that collaborates closely with CDP partners to proactively address treatment and recovery in the borough.
- Creation of a treatment plan, aligned to additional central government funding, designed to strengthen our focus on individuals in temporary accommodation, with co-occurring mental health issues and those in the criminal justice system.
- Support on development of a mapping tool for drug hotspots, drawing upon local intelligence and informing enforcement and treatment activities.
Key Figures January – December 23
- Continuity of care – (prison leavers engaged in treatment within 3 weeks) - 47% (London = 37%)
- Lifesaving naloxone distribution to opiate clients - 62% (England = 54%)
- Retention: clients who stayed in treatment longer than 12 weeks - 93% (England = 86%)
- Young people engaged with the Youth Justice Service that had evidence of substance misuse - 72% (Mainly alcohol and cannabis)
- Probation caseload both in the community and in custody where drugs have been associated with offending - 46%
Priority area : Shepherds Bush Green
Shepherds Bush Green has 5,570 residents (as reported in the Census 2021), accounting for 3% of Hammersmith & Fulham's resident population. Although the area has a smaller resident population, it is a busy multicultural neighbourhood with a mix of houses, retail and offices. Shepherds Bush Green is exceptionally busy with the highest level of night-time visitors in the borough visiting Westfield Shopping Centre, W12 Centre, Bush Theatre, Goldhawk Road and Uxbridge Road, making it a lively and crowded area.
Westfield Shopping Centre is the biggest contributor to the level of crime in the ward. Offences that took place in this shopping centre account for 7% of all offences in the borough. Around 70% were thefts offences (shoplifting, theft from a person etc.). This trend is comparable to Westfield Stratford in Newham. Outside of Westfield, offences are concentrated around the tube stations and Shepherd's Bush Market.
Overall, there has been an increase in crimes from 2022 to 2023 of 17% in Shepherd's Bush Green. The main increases were for theft, arson and criminal damage, vehicle and violence without injury offences having a statistically significant increase compared to the 2018-2022 average. Positively, possession of weapons offences significantly decreased when compared to the same period.
Offences in Shepherds Bush Green ward accounted for almost 14% of all offences in the borough.
Achievements in 2023
- Additional CCTV coverage around Shepherd's Bush Green.
- Daily LET patrols to provide a visible deterrent to tackle drug dealing and to provide support and outreach to our street population. The LET completed 3,350 patrols on Shepherds Green and the surrounding area in 2023.
- Delivered initiatives to design out crime such as installing additional fencing and more than 20 additional lights to make the area safer at night.
- Established a new Shepherds Bush Business Forum.
- Established a Friends of Shepherd's Bush Green group to work closely with our Parks team to improve the green.
- Deployed additional Police resources as part of Operation Nightingale.
Priority area : Hammersmith Broadway
Hammersmith Broadway has 7,850 residents (as calculated in Census 2021) accounting for 4.3% of Hammersmith & Fulham's resident population. Hammersmith is a heavy traffic area, filled with businesses, organisations and young professionals. Hammersmith includes a busy town centre high street and shopping centre, several underground stations, pubs and restaurants making it a busy, high footfall area.
There was a 5% increase in crimes in Hammersmith Broadway in 2023 compared to 2022. This was mainly driven by an increase in theft and drug offences. Vehicle offences reduced by 12% last year but are still up 90% from 2019.
The ward recorded a statistically higher number of violence without injury, business burglary and drug related offences when compared to the 2018-2022 average. Positively, the ward saw a statistically significant decrease in sexual and residential burglary offences.
Hammersmith Broadway offences accounted for 12% of all offences in the borough in 2023 and the ward ranked 2nd highest based on total volume of crime.
Achievements in 2023
- The Hammersmith Town Centre Forum continues to meet monthly to coordinate action against crime and ASB concerns.
- Reduction in theft from motor vehicle offences across the ward through targeted Police Operation Yukio and increased joint Police and LET high visibility patrols.
- Dedicated Police Operation, Operation Flaneur, in place for additional resources to address ASB, Robbery and theft offences.
- Pilot of police 'arrest packs' provided to retailers to encourage reporting of incidents.
- Hammersmith BID launched a new Business Crime Reduction Partnership and the introduction of 'ShopWatch' to enhance resilience across retailers and the wider business community.
Our Priorities for 2024
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Our Plan for 2024/25
Violence
Enhance the safety of our town centres and nighttime economy for women and girls, through environmental improvements and in challenging negative behaviours, such as sexual harassment through a new Public Space Protection Order.
PSPO to launch Summer 2024
Lobby Government for more funding to support the delivery of our Violence Against Women and Girls strategy and action plan - ensuring survivors can access the support they need and deserve.
Starting Summer 2024
Develop a "robbery profile" so that more could be understood about the victims and perpetrators of offences and where offences are occurring.
Starting Autumn 2024
Successfully implement the Violence Reduction Unit's Violence and Vulnerability Reduction Action Plan.
Starting Summer 2024
Establish a new Domestic Abuse Housing Policy which takes a victim centred approach to residents and homeless applicants who experience domestic abuse, with a view to achieving DAHA accreditation.
DA housing policy to be published in Autumn 2024
Our Gangs Unit will continue to apply for further funding from the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) to enhance our offer and delivery in key areas of concern.
Starting Spring 2024
Collaborate with the H&F Youth Council to tackle the priority set by young people of staying safe in the borough.
Starting Spring 2024
Drugs and alcohol
Deliver year one of the Combating Drugs and Alcohol Partnership action plan, to ensure a high quality drug and alcohol treatment and recovery system, increase engagement in treatment, reduce drug related harm and disrupt supply chains.
From Spring 2024
Motor vehicle offences
Work in partnership to tackle motor vehicles offences in the borough, particularly in hotspot areas.
Starting Spring 2024
Hate crime
Publish a new partnership Hate Crime strategy to challenge and prevent hatred and intolerance and support those affected.
By Summer 2024
Areas of focus
Ensuring crime prevention design is at the heart of our approach for major programmes and developments, including the new Civic Campus, Hammersmith Broadway and Shepherds Bush Green areas.
All priority areas
Recruit a dedicated social worker for the Anti-Social Behaviour Team to support with cases involving complex mental health and deliver proactive support to improve health and sustain tenancies.
Starting Autumn 2024
Develop and produce a new ASB policies and procedures to highlight our approaches with a focus on taking a victim centre approach and protecting vulnerable residents when tackling ASB in the borough.
Launching early 2025
Launch an enhanced Video Surveillance Service for H&F, RBKC and WCC, which will be monitored and managed by H&F, improving public safety across the three boroughs – the first BCU to have all three boroughs in one control room.
Launching Summer 2024
Downloadable version of the plan
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