Hainault is a tucked away corner of Redbridge, with a quiet residential area, plenty of parks including Hainault Forest Country Park itself, and easily accessible by public transport. Lurking behind the shadows however are the high rates of crime, in particular burglaries. A new measure has been introduced by the police and this is the Smart Water which further tries to save resident's possessions from prying hands, but is this enough?
The Guardian has called Ilford the area with the highest burglary rate in the UK and notably Hainault, in Ilford, was mentioned. At this point it was clear that more had to be done to target home burglaries. These figures provided by MoneySuperMarket provided evidence for something residents had already perhaps feared.
In fact during my residence in Hainault for the past twelve years, my house alone has been burgled twice, in 2006 and 2012. A neighbour, Kavitha, complained "it makes me feel unsafe but I must credit the Police for making the situation better than it used to be." The area had in fact been much worse but crime rates have been constantly dropping and over the last year it has dropped by 2%, which is a small but certainly an improvement.
I strongly believe that the ability that Smart Water provides for residents to protect their own valuables brings much more safety to the neighbourhood and reduces the likelihood of burglaries significantly. It doesn't only bring the ability to track down stolen valuables but also acts as a deterrent. In many ways, this opportunity should be used to reflect on the improvements in the area, consider how to further reduce burglaries in Hainault and also encourage more neighbouring local areas to focus on reducing burglaries.
By Vahgisha Thirugnanasampanthan, Woodford County High School
