Unfortunately burglars know that they can get away with murder anytime they break into a home. Few neighbours are responsible people and look after each other, others won't bother till the experience does not happen to themselves. We gave our keys to both neighbours and the ones who knew we were away, let us down terribly. The house was left broken into for two days without anybody realising it has happened, despite the alarm still flashing up on the front of the house. Foxes and mices could have moved or squatters, no one would have known. Yet these people are able to see pigs flying in the sky or a little branch hanging over their fence by millimetres, if the situation is not convenient to them.
We have spent a fortune to secure our home, but the police hasn't bother to let us know anything about the investigation. Burglars know that no one comes before 30 minutes after the alarm has been raised, know that few neighbours, would risk to open a door before the police come, to chase them, therefore they can do what they bloody like.
Polcie consider burglarys a trend these days. They tell us that it is going down in the area and therefore it is not a concern. If we were aristocrats or celebrities, they would have done anything to recover our possessions, but nothign for ordinary working people. In the 18th century if someone robbed from a rich family, they were hanged, if they robbed from working people, they were deported. Now they go on holidays.
Few weeks ago one of my neighbours, across the road, alarm went off and I immediately called the police. I was told that if I did not see the burglars, I was wasting their time. I called twice and I had no favourable answer.
The local MP told me that we have all to play a big part into this BIG society dream and that police should report crimes by road. Is this really so?
In our road people have been robbed while sleeping, with their dogs in the kitchen. We had an alarm, we had neighbours, we had double glazing windows.
We reckon that professional might have operated in the area, perhaps an international ring. There were many loft conversion in the area with foreighners labourers who might have watched the house and see when we were in or out. They might have been informants. Maybe they got our details from the internet holidays booking (via a well known company, advertising on tv), or perhaps people at the airport hotel car park.In our case it was the first time we stayed there the night before travelling. I am still puzzled by the whole affair.
Do opportunists robb houses with fitted alarm systems? The break was very clean from the break. Only a professional/builder knew how to break double glazing in a specific spot without cutting themselves.

How sad. What is the world coming to.

'Springcat' said:

The Home Office business plan says that they are 'prepar[ing] for publication of "street-level" crime data, produced every month in an open, standardised and reusable format to provide the public with detailed information about crime in their neighbourhoods.' The target date is this month. The Met on the other hand seem to think this would potentially be in contravention of the Data Protection Act and the Human Rights Act. No doubt someone will tell us in due course what is going on.

Just had a strange caller on Bovill Rd. Guy rang the doorbell, I opened the windows to have a look and he turned around and walked away quickly. Maybe he wasn't expecting anyone to be in? Unusual.

A post from Springcat says that according to the police the area burglary figures are falling, but that may be month on month figures. If you look at the met crime map for Lewisham (the finest view that it allows), whilst Dec 2010 was below Nov 2010 (I wonder if that was to do with the snow?), both are 40-50% higher than the same months in 2009.

See - http://maps.met.police.uk/

Looking at the UK police crime maps which allow crime areas to be zoomed a little more, but don't have December data, the Woolstone Road, Perry Vale, Stanstead Road side of Forest Hill (labled Perry Vale) shows Burglaries down slightly and the Horniman side of the railway lines (labled Forest Hill) up on last year.

See http://maps.police.uk/view/metropolitan/

The police have just added street level mapping see -

http://www.police.uk/crime/?q=Lewisham,%...crimetypes

and zoom into your locale,

Zoom in on The Bird in Hand, suprise suprise

If it records uncouth behaviour I would imagine the BIH goes through the roof.

I haven't been able to load it all morning due to everybody else going on the site, but my understanding is that the stats are never smaller that groups of 12 houses and possibly only by street level, so you cannot assume that the Bird in Hand is solely responsible for attracting all crime in the area.

A fairly good bet though based on the web site marker being right on the BIH.

I am sure you are right. Hardly the cultural hot spot of SE23. Ironically remember it in early 70's as lovely quiet local. Nowadays when one strolls past you are confronted with the Felixstowe word incessantly , despite many ladies walking by.

Our flat that we have just bought was burgled when owned by the previous owner - but this didn't put us off buying it as we were burgled whilst in our house in York so know it can happen anywhere. It's not nice when it does happen but I don't really think that scary statistics are going to put me off being here

A neighbour's flat in Forest Croft on the 2nd floor was burgled yesterday at some point during the day. There was an officer informing neighbours last night. No details on how they gained access unfortunately.

Any other fellow Forest Croft-ians on the forum should keep an eye out within the block in case they return.

has anybody seen the figures reported by police for December for Forest Hill? Rather High for a small town just for Decermber, let alone the other months. How can it be that no one gets arrested and this cannot be stopped. Is it the rush for gold, is the proliferation of pawnbrokers shops? or is it an organised gang?

Unfortunately The Police seem to have to spend too much of their time warning home buyers not to take measures to protect their house which might hurt the criminal.
Words fail me and that does not happen often.

[="Springcat"]How can it be that no one gets arrested[/quote]

Whatever gave you that idea? Just off the top of my head I can think of at least one person in the past couple of months that's been sent to court regarding burglaries: he admitted to around 30 or so burglaries and attempted burglaries in the Forest Hil/Crofton Park/Brockley area...

What are you talking about? When and where do the police do this? The only thing I can imagine being the case is constables briefly making people aware of the Occupiers Liability Act 1984.

Shame that they did not connect this person to the burglaries done in the Horniman area. Some of us are still waiting for the police to let us know if they recovered any of our possessions. I am sure this person going to court knows where things have been sold and gone.

Bensonby
Surely if a criminal illegally enters your property then if they are hurt surely their fault.

If they do not want to get hurt be a good citizen.

Can't wait to hear your views on the news of a murderer murdering a murderer in prison Brian

Bit difficult to say a sentence like that quickly

Should not have happened . Assuming both parties murdered were premeditated they should have received capital punishment.