Fulham businesses hit by a string of break-ins and thefts are urging the Met Police and local council to do more to protect them and their staff. Ruth Green, who owns lifestyle store Indian Summer on Fulham Road, has taken to locking the shop door during the day and is having shutters installed as fears mount over future incidents. Ms Green is one of those calling for more CCTV cameras and a faster police response to tackle what she has described as increasingly brazen acts of shoplifting and other crimes.
Rise in crime prompts urgent calls
Local Conservative councillors Liam Downer-Sanderson and Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler, alongside Shadow Cabinet Member for Community Safety Cllr Jeremy Maddocks and Georgie Stewart, Chair of the Fulham Town Ward Crime Panel, wrote to the police on the issue on June 19. In their letter they noted that between February and April alone residential burglaries were up 80 per cent compared with the previous three months. They added they are being contacted “with increasing frequency by residents and business owners concerned about the impact these offences are having”.
One such owner is Ms Green, who set up her business from the same site more than 20 years ago. The store, Indian Summer, has been a repeated victim of burglaries, suffering from both break-ins overnight and shoplifting during the day.
Shoplifting tactics have changed
Ms Green said there is a clear playbook that is being followed, with individuals coming in carrying large empty bags which are then simply filled with stock. While there have always been instances of people stealing, Ms Green said the nature of the crime has shifted. “Shoplifting in the last two years I’d say has just changed,” she said. “The level of shoplifting, the amount that they’re stealing, the fact that they’re not hiding it.”
When the LDRS visited during the day last week, the door was locked with an employee having to open it from the inside. Ms Green said this had been introduced due to fears over further incidents, with each customer wanting to enter or leave requiring assistance from a member of staff.
Police response criticised
On her interactions with the police, Ms Green said: “We’ve called 999. We’ve told them we’ve got a shoplifter on the premises, which is the advice that we’ve been given. If he’s in the shop you have to call them while he’s in the shop. But the police haven’t come.” Ms Green said it has become normal to be called in the middle of the night due to the alarm going off at the store. “I’ve got three children, and trying to run a business with three children is quite a challenge, and then being in the shop every couple of weeks at night-time just standing here with no doors on [because it's been damaged].”
She recalled one time when her mother was looking after the kids and the alarm went off. “I can’t expect my mum [to come to the shop], she’s 77, looking after three children at home. But it feels like that’s normal now. Coming to the shop in the middle of the night has now become quite a regular thing. And you don’t know what you’re driving down to. Is there going to be somebody here?”
More CCTV and faster response needed
Ms Green said she would like to see more CCTV cameras installed on Fulham Road and a faster response time from the Met. Ruby Woo, an employee at Fulham Pharmacy, another business which has had its stock raided, also said the police have failed to arrive promptly when called. She said officers told the team that those stealing items must be caught in the act. “But that’s impossible because it only takes two/three minutes for them,” she said. Ms Woo added the incidents, which have happened during the day rather than at night, are “preventable” if more attention is given to the issue by the police. “We are all ladies who just work here. So yeah it’s quite frightening, and it’s awful.”
Police report arrests and response times
The calls were reflected in the letter councillors Downer-Sanderson and Brocklebank-Fowler sent to the police, urging for support on CCTV, targeted enforcement and rapid response. The pair have also since sent a letter to Lisa Homan, Cabinet Member for Community Safety at Hammersmith and Fulham Council, requesting a number of cameras be installed. In a response to their letter from Met Police Inspector Rob Goodwin, sent on June 24, it was revealed that 17 arrests had been made so far that month and that response times were well within the 15-minute target. However, Insp Goodwin acknowledged there is a “strong case” for more CCTV cameras along New Kings Road and Fulham Road, and that the police were due to meet with the council.
Commenting on the crime affecting his Fulham Town ward, Cllr Downer-Sanderson said: “Firstly, I would like to thank the police for their continued work to identify and catch those responsible. Since being elected, I have consistently called for more CCTV along Fulham Road and New Kings Road, but have been met with a wall of excuses from the Labour council. It is upsetting to take calls from distressed business owners and to see shopfronts with smashed windows on my morning commute. I hope these latest incidents will prompt the council to think again.”
Council and police response
A spokesperson for the Met told the LDRS the total number of arrests by the Safer Neighbourhood Team in Fulham in June came to 23, with several more following Insp Goodwin’s email. They said officers regularly visit Indian Summer and maintain a visible presence in the area. A review of the responses to alarm activations in Fulham is understood to have found all incidents were attended within the appropriate times, and that in two cases individuals were arrested for burglary. The spokesperson said: “We recognise concerns from the community in Fulham following burglaries in the area, and continue to work closely with local businesses, Hammersmith and Fulham Council, and partner agencies to tackle offending and prevent further crime. Met officers have recently secured charges against two men in connection with separate burglary investigations in the area, demonstrating our determination to identify, arrest and prosecute those responsible for these offences.”
A Hammersmith and Fulham Council spokesperson said: “Hammersmith and Fulham has the largest CCTV network in the country and our Law Enforcement Team to help the Met Police fight crime and keep people safe. We assisted the Met in making 841 arrests last year. We already have 20 CCTV cameras across Fulham Road and New Kings Road and continue to review additional spots across Fulham.”
While clearly worried about the store, Ms Green said the response from the community and her customer base had given her some cause for hope. “It’s a really lovely, local community,” she said. “We’ve been here for a really long time and a lot of our customers came in as babies and are now adults. And Parson’s Green is a really, really lovely community area.”
