Can the Met Police's new approach restore trust?

Local police officers in Finsbury Park are being supported by specialist colleagues to target crime and anti-social behaviour

"Nine times out of 10, they've always got some sort of weapon on them," PC Taylor Clarke tells me.

It's a Wednesday evening in Finsbury Park and she's just heard over the police radio that her colleagues have arrested a suspect on a bus, who is carrying a phone that's been reported stolen, as well as a lock knife.

"They don't even have to use the knife or weapon," PC Clarke says. "They can just say, 'I've got something on me,' or gesture in their pocket they've got something on them, and that's enough to put the fear into someone to give their phone over."

Tonight's operation is part of a new Met approach called Clear, Hold, Build, which is being rolled out in high crime areas in London.

Police arrested eight suspects in an operation in Finsbury Park targeting drug offences and robbery

It involves three phases: Clear, where police arrest suspects and remove them from the area; followed by Hold and Build, where officers work long term alongside other local agencies and community groups to ensure trouble doesn't return.

Finsbury Park is currently in the first phase, which kicked off in December and involves more than 70 officers targeting business premises on Blackstock Road.

"The concerns we're hearing from our community is around violence against women and girls, intimidation by groups congregating in the area, alongside drug dealing, drug supply and also violence," says Supt Jack May-Robinson.

He says they're using information supplied by local people, and that police teams include both officers from the area and their specialist colleagues, who have experience in tackling organised crime.

'Nobody is feeling safe'

Mehmet Bezgin, manager of the BlackStock pub, says his customers used to repeatedly complain about being victims of crime, but says the police presence has "almost stopped" the problems over the last month.

"Nobody is feeling safe on the street. Just when you are walking, someone is nicking your mobile phone. Lots of ladies were not feeling safe walking down this road," he says.

He adds one challenge has been knowing who to complain to, because the area borders three different councils - Haringey, Hackney and Islington.

Mehmet Bezgin, manager of the Blackstock pub, says the police operation has '"almost stopped" offences over the last month

Another business owner will only speak to me anonymously because he says he is scared for his life.

"It's been a nightmare," he tells me. "It's all about drug dealing, it's about robbery, it's about harassment. It's been going on for years and years.

"We've had meetings with the mosque, the police, the council. Finally, it feels like the hope is coming back."

He's very relieved to see the police, but says there needs to be a long term presence. "It's like cat and mouse. If they're not there, the crime will come back."

Supt Jack May-Robinson believes the Clear, Hold, Build strategy is an opportunity to build trust and confidence

By the end of the evening, the police have made eight arrests, on suspicion of offences including knife point robbery, drug supply and money laundering.

The initiative started as a Home Office pilot in other areas of the UK, but is now being adopted by the Met, with the first scheme starting in Barnet on the Grahame Park estate over last summer.

The Met was placed in a form of special measures in June 2022, and is under pressure to improve neighbourhood policing and listen to the concerns of Londoners, following a damning review by Baroness Casey last March.

'Listen to the residents'

Supt May-Robinson says Clear, Hold, Build is an important part of the Met's reform plans to restore relationships in the community.

"The concerns around trust and confidence in the police is something, as a neighbourhood superintendent, I really need to reflect upon, and this initiative is giving us the opportunity to build that trust and confidence, and show the activity that we're taking against their concerns," he explains.

A presentation about the new scheme was held at St Thomas the Apostle church hall in Finsbury Park

Five days on from the arrests on Blackstock Road, about a hundred local residents gather in a church hall in Finsbury Park to listen to a presentation about the scheme.

"It's very hopeful," Jeanette Hunter tells me. "If they listen to the residents who live in the area then it will be very successful."

Chris Mozo, who runs a mentoring organisation supporting young people, agrees, but says he wants to see lasting change. "It looks really good on paper, but will it work? A lot of these things have come up before."

Local resident Dorothy Newton believes it's "a wonderful initiative".

"It's great it's working across boroughs, because that's what we need, but we've just got to hold it to account somehow."

"You deal with something, but you've got to follow it up," she adds.