Bexley worst for criminal damage

9:19am Wednesday 2nd May 2001

CRIMINAL damage in Bexley is worse than in any other London borough.

Crime watcher Peter Bayliss, a member of Bexley's Police Community Consultative Group, says the latest Metropolitan Police crime figures show offences of criminal damage in Bexley leapt by more than 27 per cent in March, to more than 550.

Mr Bayliss said: “It's good news that burglary figures in London are the lowest for 22 years, but criminal damage is the main area of concern for Bexley residents.”

Bexleyheath police say the sudden and dramatic rise could be due to an appeal by the police for people to report all graffiti incidents to the police as part of its crackdown on graffiti in the borough.

Mr Bayliss also points to the fact that Bexley has fallen from being the third safest to the seventh safest borough in London and says the problem is the lack of police officers on Bexley's streets.

The police say they are determined to get across the message that spraying graffiti is a crime and not just mischievous behaviour and that declaring it a locally prevalent crime in Bexley means they can now get culprits to court quicker.

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