Security Marking for Safety!

Recently we’ve seen a rise in thefts of portable diesel generators from boats on the East London waterways. Off the back of the success of the MET police supported cycle marking project some boaters reached out to Operation Kraken for a way of registering generators and other large items. Luckily, we know just the thing  Immobilse.  'Immobilse' can be used by boaters and non-boaters alike to register items of value in their residence. The marking of items is not included with immobilse, so Operation Kraken donated UV marker pens from Operation Bumblebee to the London live aboard boaters. Unlike the Whistle Blower project (see earlier post) there was not enough markers for individual marker distribution throughout the community, so a clever plan was devised. A few voluntary live aboard boaters keep a limited supply of UV marker pens and act as marker 'librarians'. They distribute markers on a loan basis for people to mark large/precious items. If an item is stolen the owner can report the personal UV marking to the police who  scan items they recover under UV lights. Pawn brokers (in theory) should also check items for UV marking. The marker comes with a window sticker and a personal log sheet. The stickers and log sheets are first come first serve and are available while supplies last. There are currently 6 UV marker library boats:

Max on Bobby Dazzler

Ronja on  Sapphire (Dark blue, red & yellow 36ft Springer)

Ron on Daisy / Joan

Mimi on égoïste(caretaker boat)

Mikaela on Habibti

Keith on Balthamos

Feel free to reach out to these volunteers using the London Boaters facebook page or stop by their boats if you see them moored nearby. Please remember, we do not have enough markers to supply the community with an individual marker, return the marker after use so all boaters benefit from this additional safety measure.

Police Patrol This Towpath

The mobile and independent nature of living aboard without a home mooring makes partnering with institutions difficult for a boater. Accessing emergency services without a land address has been an issue in the past. We, the boaters, due to our mobile nature, haven’t always known the post code or other geographic details which would direct the police to our location. Even after the location is assumed to be understood, some response units unfamiliar with the waterways would call the boater for directions once the towpath has been located. In those past instances, the delays left some boaters with a feeling of not being a priority customer for the police,

In East London, the autumn 2012 crime wave initiated a change in boater/police communication and cooperation. The increase in crime may be the spark, but the willingness of the police and boaters to engage with each other is the fuel. We are continuing to develop a working relationship for a higher level of crime detection and prevention on our waterways, with the following police teams.

West Bow Police Unit

Bow West is the primary response team for the Regent’s Canal from the Jubilee Gate of Victoria Park to Mile End Road, and part of the Hertford Union Canal on emergency and non-emergency calls. The Bow West Safer Neighbourhoods Team has made the towpath a ‘Public Set Priority’ for increased patrols.

East Bow Police Unit

Bow East covers the Hertford Union from Gun Maker’s Bridge, and the moorings on the Lee Navigation along the Olympic Park; the area known by boaters as Hackney Wick. This team is working with the local land residents, the Tower Hamlets council, boaters, and the London Legacy Development Corporation to ensure the Hackney Wick towpath is safer for all users.

MET Police Marine Unit (Wapping)

This team is the London home for Project Kraken, and they cover all of the waterways in Greater London. It is a relatively small unit for the large area under their jurisdiction. They don’t have the restriction of council borders, which means they have the best overview of the waterways network. This is the home of ‘Marine Watch’. ‘Marine Watch’ is akin to the land based ‘Neighbourhood Watch’. Before meeting the officers of Project Kraken, we looked into the National Neighbourhood Watch Programme, but a lack of a local land address was a barrier to establishing our own. ‘Marine Watch’ on the canals is still developing, and taking on members and coordinators. Here is the official police blurb on Marine Watch:

MARINE WATCH

Marine Watch is coordinated by the Metropolitan Police Marine Policing Unit and is an integral element of Project Kraken. Project Kraken is a national police initiative aimed at enhancing vigilance around the UK’s coastal and inland waters to combat crime and identify suspicious behaviour.

Marine Watch works to strengthen partnerships between statutory authorities such as the Police, Port of London Authority, Environment Agency and Canal & River Trust together with individuals and communities in order to work together to make our waterways safe and pleasant for all. By becoming part of Marine Watch, you have taken the first step towards helping us achieve that goal.

What will we do?

-    Share information and work with our partners to solve problems together

-    Listen to your comments and take positive action where necessary

-    Prepare regular newsletters with useful information and contacts

-    Provide support and help to set up ‘Watch Areas’

-    Crime prevention advice and property marking events

What can you do?

-    Be vigilant - report suspicious behaviour. Remember, if it doesn’t look or feel right, it probably isn’t.

-    Keep in touch - we are here for you

-    Keep your boat secure by taking simple steps

-    Mark your property and register it with the National Property Register - www.immobilise.com

-    Encourage others to register for Marine Watch - consider creating your own ‘Watch Area’.

Remember, if it doesn’t look or feel right, it probably isn’t! Call us on 101 or if it’s an emergency dial 999.

Visit us at www.met.police.uk/marine

Twitter @MPSonthewater

Hackney Victoria SNT

Recently, I was introduced to an officer from the Hackney Victoria Unit, who wants to build a stronger relationship with boaters. This team is responsible for the relatively small piece of towpath that goes from the Victoria Park Jubilee Gate to Mare Street. They plan to support a Towpath Community Safety Day with Bow police and the Cycle Registration team.

General Police Response

The teams above have actively partnered with the boating community over local hotspots; this doesn’t mean that other police teams are not committed to a safer towpath at large. From personal experience and from the recent messages posted online, the police response in areas which are not Public Set Priorities has been quick and the level of professionalism is outstanding. Boaters need no longer wonder if we are receiving the same level of service provided for non-boaters by our police teams.  

Operation Whistle Blower!

Operation Whistle Blower is a community created, led and financed safety solution. Using whistles live aboard boaters can alert each other of possible criminal activity on the towpath. It was born out of community concerns over the rise in incidents on the towpath. It developed out of a conversation I had with a boater after 3 men attempted to break-in his boat whilst he was on-board. It began with the men making noise and shaking his boat. They shined torches in his windows and tried to gain entry. It was very early in the morning and his mobile phone wasn't charged. He had no way to call for help or alert his neighbours. He took a chance and grabbed the nearest thing to a weapon he could find, came out shouting, and scared the men off his boat. I think the element of surprise worked in his favour. He then went back inside, secured the doors, and kept a vigil waiting for their possible return. 

I met him a few days later and we began brainstorming options for communicating danger to our neighbours that would not rely on a constant power source. Our initial idea was for everyone to purchase rape alarms. I took this idea to a forum of boaters to discuss the practicalities and costs. A boater from the forum decided to take the initiative and purchased whistles out of his own pocket. A code of practice was created and flyers were made.

On 26 October 2013, a small group of us delivered whistles to Hackney Wick, Victoria Park, and \Broadway Market moored boats. These areas have reported the highest number of incidents. We asked for donations of 50p to £1 to purchase additional whistles and print more flyers if the boater was onboard. If no one was home, we left a whistle and flyer on the boat. A week or so later, we delivered up the Lee Navigation from Matchmaker's Wharf to the top of Springfield Park, and another boater did Tottenham's Stonebridge Lock area. A Canal and River Trust mooring ranger joined us on the Lee, helping to deliver whistles and introducing himself to boaters. CRT has recently purchased whistles to donate to the project and we will be expanding westward from Broadway Market to Little Venice and beyond!

After a rainy day of delivering whistles we adjourned to a pub on Lea Bridge Road and rewarded ourselves!

Safe As Houses?

This is a camera phone photo taken from the Victoria Park Regent’s Canal visitor mooring. It is a picture of the canal, lock, and Old Ford road. It is a better representation of the late year visibility standard in the early evening and at night. Plenty of people continue to use the towpath after dark, predominantly cyclists, and boaters returning to their boats, but joggers and pedestrians also. Many people believe that this stretch of towpath is safe at night. I have been a boater for over 3 years and I’ve been a visitor to the waterways for over 6 years. Until the incidents of 2012, I never considered this stretch of the towpath to be an unsafe place. I continued to feel safe after my boat was burgled in 2011 on the Duckett’s Cut along Victoria Park. The times I felt uncomfortable coming home alone wouldn’t be more than a couple before Autumn 2012. I wish I could figure out the root causes of why the criminal activity on the towpath has increased, but I do not have the degrees in social, economic, or criminological studies for deeper consideration of the issues. My heart tells me there are many factors involved. It could be austerity, boredom (lack of alternative activities), the rise in the profile of boats (targets) in the public consciousness, and the canals being one of the last places in London with minimal camera coverage. These factors and more could be the driving forces behind the towpath crime wave. What I know is the timeline I made demonstrating an escalation of the criminal activity beginning in Autumn 2012:

13/10/2012- First burglary of the series.

17/10/2012- Total of 3 boats burgled

21/10/2012- 10 boats burgled on this one evening. All boats on Victoria Park mooring vacate, leaving one boat whose owner was away. (If this were to happen again, we should take any unmanned boats with us).

28/10/2012- Two separate community meetings discussing issues around safety were held.

03/11/2012- Start of a weekend of additional burglaries, totalling 5 boats, including at least 1, which the owner was alerted of the crime situation by the community organiser a few days prior.

06/11/2012- One attempted break-in at the Mile End moorings (probably unrelated to the organised Victoria Park burglaries).

11/11/2012- Meeting at the Palm Tree Pub consisting of boaters, Metropolitan Police Marine Unit, C&RT reps, and Metropolitan Police Crime Prevention rep. This was the first meeting where boaters discussed Victoria Park moorings lighting issue with C&RT and Crime Prevention Rep.

03/01/2012- Boaters witnessed youths going along Victoria Park moorings looking at locks on boats. 999 called.

04/01/2012-Boater on Victoria Park mooring took photos of the youths who were again checking out the boats. 999 called, youths apprehended; more details pending.

17/01/13- After a run of prank level vandalism, including people jumping on boats, boats mooring ropes getting cut and boats set adrift during the night, the vandalism moved to life threatening levels. In the early morning, a rope tied to the roof of a boat had its other end tied to the fence of Victoria Park creating a ‘clothesline’, which a commuter cycled into and suffered a skull fracture and a partially paralysed face. 

10/02/13- Two separate cyclists were mugged on the Towpath, one by Victoria Park and the other along the stretch between Broadway Market and Victoria Park.

While these events were taking place, boaters contacted representatives of Canal and River Trust, and Victoria Park in an attempt to get lighting installed on this stretch of towpath, but neither organisation had the funding to provide this safety measure. For a little while concerned boaters gave up on getting lights in Victoria Park. That feeling lasted through the relatively quiet time of Spring and Summer 2013, but the Autumn brought more burglaries taking the criminal activity to a much more frightening level. What’s happened since will be the focus of future posts.  

–Keith Brown Community Organiser Lower Lee and Regent’s Canal

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This is The Light a Way! blogsite

Here we will chronicle the community action to bring light to a dark towpath.

This blog will contain the story of how we got here, articles form community members, and the ongoing, unfolding of the concept which we plan to crowd fund through Spacehive