Police battle hate crime on estate
By Jim Adlam
Richmond & Twickenham Times
Victims of hate crime on a housing estate who are too scared or reluctant to go to the police may soon benefit from a pioneering new scheme to encourage those living in fear to come forward.
The Edgar Road Estate in Whitton is home to around 400 families, 50 estimated to be Asian and 20 from other minority groups.
Tensions on the estate have revolved around racial differences, and police chiefs in Twickenham admit that there is a problem with under-reporting of hate crime, including race hate, domestic violence and homophobia. Only two alleged incidents of this type have been reported to the police this year, despite rumours that much more is happening.
Gangs of youths are allegedly drinking, taking drugs and targeting ethnic minorities. Eggs have been thrown at residents' houses and schoolchildren have been verbally abused.
Community intelligence officer Deborah Zanetti told the Times: "I know there are things going on. I keep hearing it third or fourth hand."
She felt residents were either scared of reprisals, or just do not understand the system. She said: "My job is to encourage people to come forward because if they don't tell me about it I can't do anything. We are trying to gain their trust.
"We can impose bail conditions, we can keep people in custody. We won't go knocking on informants' doors in full uniform if they make a complaint."
A Third Party Reporting scheme has been set up in conjunction with the landlord at the estate's community centre, but the response from residents was disappointing, partly because the centre is a focal point for many of the gangs causing problems.
In a further effort to get more people to come forward, police now hope to enlist two residents as go-betweens between them and victims of hate crime.
Sergeant Mark Cranwell, co-ordinator of the scheme, said this had not been tried before by the Met: "The two people involved are very keen to make a difference. They've got young kids and they realise that life would be miserable if things go on as they are."
While there is no guarantee yet that this pioneering initiative will go ahead, there are still many options for victims of hate crime.
A police surgery operates at the community centre, from 3pm to 5pm, and at Whitton Library from noon to 2pm on alternate Thursdays. The next surgery will be at the library on October 30. Call 8247 5816 for more details.
A spokeswoman for Richmond Housing Partnership commented: "There have been problems of ongoing anti-social behaviour at this estate, including low level racial abuse and other forms of harassment. The group aims to improve the quality of life for residents and promote a strong, sustainable community."