Yesterday evening I held an Adjournment Debate to raise local residents' concerns relating to antisocial behaviour, particular that which involves the use of, or targeting of, a vehicle.
I particularly wanted to highlight the theft of catalytic converters, which are located on the underside of cars and remove harmful pollutant gases. However, the precious metals that enable them to do that are very valuable - some are three times the price of gold. A thief can take a catalytic converter from a car in a matter of minutes, or even as quickly as 30 seconds in some cases, often using a pipe cutter or similar tool simply to cut the converter from the exhaust pipe.
Last year saw a rise of nearly 50% of catalytic converter theft in London alone. This has been for two primary reasons: the ease with which these crimes can take place; and the huge financial potential for those who are successful. The perpetrators have become more and more violent in their desperation to commit these crimes, with many stories being reported to me of residents being barred into their own homes, chased or even attacked with blunt implements, such as my constituent Saffron in Beddington.
There has been some good news in relation to tackling these crimes. I pay tribute to the Metropolitan police and the British Transport Police for their efforts to try to tackle this issue. The police set up Operation Basswood to tackle the rise in catalytic converter thefts. Collating evidence from thefts across London and parts of the home counties such as Essex, the police were able to deduce that the overwhelming majority of the crimes being committed came from one group of people based in Hackney.
On Tuesday 23 March this year, hundreds of officers were deployed to execute simultaneous warrants in Hackney and in Essex. On the day itself, there were four arrests and seven subsequent arrests have been made. Over £60,000 was seized, while multiple vehicles that were stolen or had false plates, various quantities of drugs, tools used to commit these thefts and 33 converters were recovered. This was the very first police raid of its kind and I am pleased to report that it has been successful, with a 66% reduction since 23 March, including in Carshalton and Wallington.
I also spoke to the antisocial use of vehicles more widely. We have seen scenes from across the country, particularly London - sadly, they have also manifested themselves in Carshalton and Wallington - of people using vehicles, particularly motorbikes, mopeds and quad bikes, to ride antisocially in parks and open spaces, on pavements and high streets, and much more. In my constituency, the residents of Roundshaw and South Beddington have been particularly impacted by this.
It has also had an impact on me, because I regularly use the downs to walk my two dogs, Willow and Lola, but have become more and more apprehensive about doing so. That concern is shared by Sutton Rovers Football Club, which is based at the site. This is not a new issue - residents tell me that it has been going on since before I was elected - but lockdown has exacerbated the problem incredibly. It has clearly gone way beyond a small band of young people looking for a quick thrill and become something more organised.
The Metropolitan police, to their credit, have stepped up patrols where possible, and have even conducted helicopter flyovers. They have managed to stop some people, remind them of the law and seize vehicles, and so on. However, these are expensive and temporary measures, at best. Antisocial behaviour is not reduced solely by reactive police activity; it needs to be tackled by working together with local authorities and communities to introduce preventive measures to stop it happening in the first place.
I was pleased to be able to raise these important issues directly with the Minister last night. You can watch the full debate above, or read a copy of the transcript here.
