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/