Essex families become crime fighters due to police cuts

Families have turned vigilante crime fighters after police cuts left them feeling ‘unprotected and unsafe’. 

Volunteers say they have been forced to patrol the streets of Essex in the hunt for lawbreakers because of the decline in the presence of officers on the beat. 

They have been walking the streets in Basildon and Wickford in a bid to break-up gangs, deter break-ins, and stop vandalism.

The vigilantes do not try to arrest criminals, but pass on information to police.  

Volunteers have no formal training, but are hoping to team up with the famous Guardian Angels, from New York, after a trial meeting last week.

Inspired by New York’s Guardian Angels, vigilantes in red uniform patrol the streets of Wickford, Essex

Group portrait of members of the Guardian Angels’ as they pose in their headquarters, New York

Richer areas in Essex have hired private security firms to guard their streets, but the emergence of these gangs is thought to be the first-time locals have started patrolling on their own.

The 80-strong anonymous Wick Patrol Group claims businesses have stopped reporting crimes to police and CCTV footage is no longer shared between firms due to police cuts.

Last week they teamed up with Night Angels Pitsea, which formed before Christmas, and hit the streets with a contingent from the beret-clad Guardian Angels

One founder of the Wick Group said: ‘Since we’ve been in existence we don’t seem to get the regular burglaries and break-ins and the community feels safer knowing we are out there patrolling.

‘In my view this is the direction communities are having to go in because the police have become very reactive to crime rather than proactive.’

Another added: ‘The government have cut Policing so much that it has made us feel unprotected and unsafe in Wickford.

‘Essex Police can only do what they can with the resources given. They are not to blame.

‘We met businesses that do not report incidents to the Police because the Police do not attend as they are understaffed.

‘CCTV pictures are not being shared with all retailers because the Police Retail team was disbanded last year.

‘The Guardian Angels could fill a massive gap here in Wickford, all we need are volunteers to make it work.’

Duncan Lamont,  who set up the Night Angels, said: ‘The rapidly-increasing level of crime has to stop eventually, and we want to help where we can.’

A spokesman for Essex Police however urged locals not to take the law into their own hands and asked them to join an official initiative.

Inspector Steve Parry, from Basildon Community Policing Team said: ‘We understand fully that protecting our neighbourhoods will always be a top priority for people in the community, as it is for our officers.

‘Our preference is for people to join our Active Citizen scheme.

‘By being an Active Citizen, members of the public can work alongside us to help tackle local crime and community issues.

‘Police officers conduct high visibility patrols across Basildon, Billericay, Pitsea and Wickford, and we continue to work closely with our partners and the public to keep communities safe.

‘We always urge people to report incidents or information to us either directly or to Crimestoppers anonymously, as we will act on any information given to us.’

Locals were however keen to see residents taking to the streets.

Wickford Baker, Kevin Barke. said: ‘Vigilantes, I’d bloody join them mate.

‘My house got burgled and this place got burgled four times.

‘If the police are not going to be here someone has to do something.

Portrait of American anti-crime activist and founder of the Guardian Angels Curtis Sliwa, as he crouches next to the door of a subway car, New York

Lisa Sliwa, a member of the Guardian Angels and married to its founder, Curtis Sliwa, patrols the subway while dressed in her Guardian Angels uniform, mid 1980s

Locals say they have been forced to patrol the streets themselves and regularly hunt for lawbreakers due to a lack of police on the beat

‘We’ve has recessions before but there were always police stations in Wickford, they’re closed now.

‘I’ve got a lot of respect for the police, but it’s the cutbacks.

‘We can’t go down the nick anymore and I often don’t call up if I see something.’

The patrols come as residents in wealthy Tiptree, also in Essex, renewed the contract for private security to patrol their streets after PCSO funding was cut.

Locals pay an extra £1 a year on their council tax for the patrols from a private firm.

An ex-police officer, Lewis Kearney, also set up a security firm when he left the force to patrol Southend-on-sea.

He quit Essex Police as he was disheartened with the savage cuts and now offers homeowners around-the-clock protection for £49.95 a month.