Police respond to Canvey robberies within targets

12:40pm Thursday 24th January 2013 in Local News

Canvey Police Station Canvey Police Station

FAST-ACTING police officers attended fourteen robberies on Canvey within minutes despite extensive budget cuts.

Businesses and islanders were gripped by fear last year following a spate of armed robberies which, at its worst, saw eight robberies in eight weeks.

The crimewave prompted an urgent meeting with the new Police Crime Commissioner Nick Alston, MP Rebecca Harris and local organisations to try and tackle the problem.

Now, figures released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal officers were on the scene of 10 of the incidents in 13 minutes or less from being dispatched.

For four of those cases, officers were on site in under 10 minutes, with some responses being as fast as six minutes.

Comments(8)

perini says...
12:48pm Thu 24 Jan 13

13 minutes to respond to an armed incident and that's OK is it? With some weapons capable of spewing several rounds per second it's lucky there was no massacre. I know that in all probability, weapons like that won't be used, but there's always a chance! it doesn't really matter what weapon was used - you can kill/maim an awful lot of people in that time frame!

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pembury53 says...
12:59pm Thu 24 Jan 13

perini wrote:
13 minutes to respond to an armed incident and that's OK is it? With some weapons capable of spewing several rounds per second it's lucky there was no massacre. I know that in all probability, weapons like that won't be used, but there's always a chance! it doesn't really matter what weapon was used - you can kill/maim an awful lot of people in that time frame!
And no actual mention of any arrests either..... A couple of boy's walk through leigh recently with a toy gun, and get pinned to the floor by an armed response unit pointing carbines at their heads, and probably traumatised for life..... It seems as far as real crime goes, the public have been virtually thrown to the wolves....

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iknowbetter says...
1:13pm Thu 24 Jan 13

Does this mean they wont be needing the extra 40p they are asking from us all now then?
They have shot themselves in the foot, (no pun intended), wasnt the solution to plant an additional 13 "crack" police officers on Canvey, so does this mean then they admit that cutting a police force is detrimental to cutting crime?

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Nebs says...
1:47pm Thu 24 Jan 13

Nice of the police to let the criminals know exactly how long they have to carry out their crimes and escape. I am sure those who plan such deeds will be grateful for the information.

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John T Pharro says...
8:53pm Thu 24 Jan 13

If 10 of 14 robberies were under 13 minutes means 4 were longer, so what was the longest time? Was the one in 6 minutes because the police just happened to be on the island? What we really need to know is where the police started from not just how long it took them to get there. If they started from Canvey Police station with blues you should be able to get anywhere on Canvey in 6 minutes. If the one case of 6 minutes was from Canvey Police station does that not prove a permanent police presence is necessary?

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Carnabackable says...
12:21am Fri 25 Jan 13

If I was a resident on Canvey, and paying council tax, I too would be miffed, that they come from off the Island...BUT THEY ARE THERE, they do a thankless task in difficult times, show gratitude for these brave keepers of the law.

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Interestedofessex says...
9:02am Fri 25 Jan 13

Nebs wrote:
Nice of the police to let the criminals know exactly how long they have to carry out their crimes and escape. I am sure those who plan such deeds will be grateful for the information.
Think you will need to thank the Echo for letting the criminals know how long it takes, they submitted the freedom of information request - and presumably if the police didn't give the figures over, you'd be accusing them of trying to hide the truth.

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InTheKnowOk says...
11:42am Fri 25 Jan 13

Doesn't matter if they get caught anyway as no doubt the Judge will let them off ..

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