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Camden New Journal - by DAN CARRIER
Published: 6 September 2007

Blitz on muggers who prey on pupils

Campaign to curb crime surge as schools return

A POLICE operation has been launched against muggers who target Hampstead schoolchildren carrying mobile phones and iPods.
Figures obtained by the New Journal show that Finchley Road – where pupils congregate on their way home – is second only to Camden Town for street crime.
There were 124 muggings in a 12-month period from May 2006, while mugging hotspot Camden Town had 187 street crimes in the same period.
Borough commander Chief Superintendent Mark Heath said that, although street crime rates had fallen in Camden over the past four years, special teams were being set up to tackle muggers targeting schoolchildren in Hampstead.
A recent Camden police report revealed that there was a large increase in crime in the Finchley Road area at the start of the autumn term last year.
Chief Supt Heath said: “We are aware of the issues pupils from the Hampstead area face and we are planning to increase uniformed patrols in the area as schools start again.”
He added that undercover officers would also be used to ensure that, if muggings occurred, arrests would follow.
“We are looking at intelligence profiles on a daily basis and we are using a team of specialist officers to see which schools are being targeted,” he said.
“Often these incidents are to do with what I call ‘respect’ crimes – they are aggravated bullying.
“Young people have the choice not to bow to peer pressure and become involved in crimes of this type, which will have serious consequences for them. It just takes a moment of teenage male testosterone for there to be problems, and we are doing our best to ensure this does not happen. That is a message we want to get across as schools go back.”
Gospel Oak Conservative councillor Chris Philp has called for more CCTV cameras in Finchley Road. He said: “There is only one crimebusting camera on Finchley Road and none on West End Lane, yet the borough has 68 cameras designed to catch out motorists.”

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