Putney’s neighbourhood police inspector has been out on patrol in West Hill himself this week, dealing with anti-social behaviour at a venue serious enough for him to join his officers on the ground.
Inspector Paul James told residents his team was facing a “complex situation” in the ward, where people gathering at a venue were causing “high levels of anti-social behaviour”. He did not name the venue. “I have been on patrol with the team carrying out enforcement in the area,” he said, “and we will continue to do so.”
James took over Putney’s policing in March, inheriting a trust problem. Fewer than half of Wandsworth residents (47%) thought police were doing a good job then, a figure that had fallen three points. An inspector saying he has personally joined patrols is not routine. It tells residents something about how the sector is being run.
This week his team also ran an enforcement sweep on Putney High Street. Officers reported offences for using a mobile phone while driving, jumping red lights in cars and on bikes, driving with no licence or insurance, and cycling on the pavement. James said the action followed concerns raised by the community about dangerous riding of bikes and e-bikes, and drivers using their phones.
It came a week after an e-scooter arrest in which a Putney officer was injured.
The officer he brought in
The clearest sign of James’s approach may be an appointment he made soon after arriving. In late April he moved Sergeant Gary Berry to Thamesfield, the riverside ward, where results came quickly.
Berry’s team arrested the ward’s most wanted burglar, later charged with 13 burglaries across Putney. A serial offender was sent back to prison for 28 days after four arrests in five days. Police say crime in Thamesfield has fallen by about 30% since October, a figure that comes from their own data.
Berry described the method behind it. “We located a name, we know how they were getting about, and what clothing they would essentially be wearing,” he said. “Today, we’ve reaped the rewards.” He calls it an “intelligence-led” approach, policing aimed at known offenders rather than spread thinly across random patrols.
Three months in, a picture is emerging of a Putney inspector who leads from the front: out on patrol himself, enforcing in person, and backing officers who get results. Whether this is what policing across Wandsworth now looks like is harder to say. This is information the police choose to share, and the real test is not the updates but the trust figure.
Residents who want to raise concerns in person can do so later this month. Officers are hosting a Coffee with a Copper session at St Mary’s Church on Putney High Street on Sunday 28 June at 10am.
The next set of public confidence figures will go to the borough’s Safer Neighbourhood Board, the forum where police and the council review local policing. That is when residents will get a clearer answer to the question this week leaves open: not what the police are doing, but whether it is working.
