Girls Caught in Bishops Park with Stolen Safe

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Summer crime spree in borough's green spaces

Two teenage girls were caught red-handed in Bishops Park on Saturday July 18 carrying a safe which had been stolen from Fulham Palace Play Project.

The Parks Constabulary, who arrested the girls, say the project suffered significant criminal damage during the break-in.

Officers were called to the scene after the caretaker heard the alarm. Two males were spotted running from the scene of the crime and enquiries are ongoing to try and trace them. Police are also investigating break-ins at the Fulham Palace Bowls Club and café that took place on the same evening.

This incident is the latest in a spate of crimes across the borough's 54 parks and open spaces which has so far led to the parks police making seven arrests in the last month for offences including burglary, drug dealing and shoplifting.

In June we reported that Eel Brook Common had faced what local police described as a "mini crime wave"  with two robberies, a third attack which was either a robbery or an assault an three other minor assault - amounting to more crime in one weekend than the common had suffered since the start of the year.

Police have also been in action in Hammersmith Park, where a drug dealer was arrested, Wormwood Scrubs, where they arrested a youth riding a stolen bicycle and on Brook Green, where the parks constabulary helped to arrest a shoplifter who had had a violent altercation with a store detective in nearby Tesco's.

Cllr Greg Smith, Cabinet Member for Crime and Street Scene, says: "We have some beautiful parks and open spaces in Hammersmith & Fulham but unfortunately, an unruly minority of people think that it is acceptable for them to be used as havens for antisocial and criminal behaviour.

"Our parks constabulary will continue to put all their efforts into fighting crime in our green spaces. These recent arrests should show criminals that we are determined to track them down, wherever they commit crime."

The council’s parks constabulary operates 365 days a year and is made up of one inspector, 21 constables and three sergeants.

Patrolling starts at 6am daily and finishes at 12.30am during the summer months and at 10pm during the winter months.

July 22, 2009