Update July 2021
Apparently this was discussed on 30 July but the officer dealing with the case is now on holiday until mid-August so again, we wait. She did seem keen to progress the proposals but it was out of her hands and up for review/ratification by some higher power.
Update June 2020
We have again asked the Met what’s happening to the long-awaited report and there is still no news. While we understand Covid-19 has taken up massive resources, it’s really time that the recommendations were ratified to allow the PCSOs can crack on with additional training and deployment on the streets.
Update January 2020
We had a joint meeting with the other groups in September 2019 and had some positive discussions about a report which was being drafted on recommended increases in PCSO powers. It was an encouraging meeting and we came away feeling that things were happening. The report was due to be sent to the head of the Met Police, Commander Cressida Dick at the end of September but some legal issue has meant that as at the time of writing, it still hasn’t been sent. We are keeping in touch with the inspector in charge of the report on progress; we don’t know what the legal issue is.
NB: The local councillor with whom we did the speed checks back in 2018 was Cllr Rowena Champion; she also participated in speed checks on Liverpool Road in December 2019. She is now the Transport and Environment lead on the Council.
Original post February 2019
Following our 3-year long campaign to get improvements made to the junction of Liverpool Road and Barnsbury Street, work is now finally complete. It’s not at all what we would have liked but it’s a small start. Part of the work behind the campaign involved working with the local councillor and our local Community Support Officers (CSOs) on some speed watches which, surprise surprise, identified that many vehicles on Liverpool Road were exceeding the limit of 20 mph.
The CSOs’ current powers allow them to add the numberplates of the speeding vehicles, the place, the time and their speed, on a central database. If the same vehicle is then caught committing another offence, the information can be used as part of any further action by the police.
The CSOs were invited to talk at one of our monthly meetings in September 2018 about their work and it became clear in these discussions that they would welcome an increase in their powers, ie being allowed to issue Fixed Penalty Notices at the time of the speeding offence.
For several months, we worked with Wheels for Wellbeing, London Living Streets, 20sPlenty and the London Cycling campaign on a letter to the Mayor of London and the head of the Met Police, Cressida Dick, asking them to consider empowering the Met’s CSOs. Letter here :https://cycleislington.uk/wp-content/uploads/CSO-letter-v-final-7-Feb-2019.pdf
We await the response.