does happen everywhere though. sometimes these gangs just come and go. a gang attempted to rob a colleague and I on way to tube in Maida Vale. We had walked the same route for five years without incident. And actually never even seems many group. But when we spoke to the police they told us there had been a spate in the area.

Great idea Labc - if they could share the patrol that would be ideal...having presence in the evenings around the station and surrounding roads would be good.

I for one would feel more secure if there were some kind of police or community support presence in the evenings particularly around the station and near the Weatherspoons on london rd on a friday and Saturday night

Just had a visit from a PCSO. As he was on Forest Hill beat, he didn't have any intention of covering the station itself which is disappointing in the context of a robbery like this. This apparently falls under Crofton Park ward and BTP for the station itself.

There is apparently a possibiilty of CCTV covering the station though.

I hadn't considered the BTP angle and of course they have their own stats. Makes for interesting reading - click on "Stations we Cover" and then "more":
https://www.btp.police.uk/local_btp_team...round.aspx

In HOP there is a big % increase but by itself this is probably not statistically significant given the low figures anyway. Overall there is a 10% increase and this seems to be wholly accounted for by Brockley, Honor Oak Park and Forest Hill and more so given the decreases on the rest of the line.