The London Borough of Newham Crime Survey

In an attempt to uncover the views of residents in respect of their experience of crime and disorder within their area Newham Crime and Disorder Partnership commissioned an audit report conducted by the Safe Neighbourhoods Unit (SNU) between October and December 1998. This report contained detailed findings from three surveys carried out in the Canning Town and Green Street SRB areas of the Borough. Robbery and street crime featured as one of the key areas of concern. The views of residents and businesses formed a critical part of Newham's approach to discovering solutions to local problems. Key findings from the surveys were included in the Audit report produced for public consultation. The three surveys conducted in these two SRB Areas comprised:

• A household interview survey of residents living in the areas;

• A self-completion survey of businesses in the areas;

• A self-completion survey of pupils at a secondary school in the areas.

Among the key findings were;

The Canning Town area has had an average crime rate in the 12 month survey period, other than for motor vehicle crime:

Levels of robbery/snatch theft were close to the London average;

The Green Street area had a relatively high crime rate in the 12 months assessment period:

• 13% of the respondents were burgled, nearly double national average;

• 5.3% experienced theft of motor vehicles, over twice the London average;

• 10.1% of women victims of robbery/snatch theft, over four times London average;

• In the majority of incidents of crimes against the person the perpetrators were male (92%), under 25 (75%), white (55%) and not known by the victim (85%);

• In the majority of incidents of crimes against the person the victims were female (55%), under 45 (74%) and black or Asian (67%).