A mugging on Underhill road 24th May

[Brian Tee]

Last night my son and 3 of his friends (all 16 year olds) had their mobiles nicked by a gang on Underhill Road.

Anyone know anything? It's about time our local police took serious notice of this and started making their presence felt with patrolling cars/foot police at night. From all of the gang related posts on this site, it seems to me it's getting well out of control.

Please let me know if anyone out there saw/heard anything.

Thanks!

[tiger ranks]

What end of underhill road and what sort of time

[Brian Tee]

I'll let you know - my son's at school now, and i got very little detail from him before he left.

[Penguin68]

There have been muggings and attempted muggings on Underhill of and on for years - its traumatic when it happens to your own children (and I've gone through that trauma on a couple or more of occasions) but we need to keep perspective - I agree that stepping up patrols will have a short-term effect (it tends to move the crime to other roads - maybe the Underhill muggers have been moved on from Peckam Rye - vide other threads!) but we need to look at overall trends across the 'crime catchment' area we live in before we over-react. I suspect that the police do take muggings seriously - they certainly did when my daughter was mugged when she was 8 or 9 - but they can't be everywhere all the time; and muggers know that. It is also true that many muggers are young, and their youth protects them from onerous punishments even when they are caught.

The last time my daughter was mugged for her phone in Underhill it was so old and battered that the mugger gave it back, suggesting her dad get her a better one. Maybe teenagers (when they are out at night) should have phones that are good enough for simple communication but not so attractive to thieves. When I was 16 I didn't wander around anywhere with ?100s of pounds of kit on me (probably I never had more than the cash equivalent now of no more than ?30-?40 - so about ?2-10 shillings then, and often much less).

[dulwichbloke]

That's fine when it comes to not losing something of great financial value, but doesn't it miss the point somewhat? (unless all you are suggessting is that people shouldn't flash expensive stuff around - in which case I would agree)

The trauma of being mugged is not usually in losing something worth money - it's in the act itself - the violence and/or threat of violence and the effect that then has on you or your children. OK, it may be some (small) consolation for the thug to give you your battered item back after the event (probably with a sneer) but I'm not sure that would make you feel much safer, or less violated.

[Penguin68]

My point was more that if the expectation is rich pickings, then street crime will continue - if the expectation was that it wasn't worth the effort (rewards outweighed by risks) then maybe it will tail off.

It may be easier to change the potential victims' attitudes (they are our children after all) than to 'educate' people we don't know and don't mix with not to rob.

When the status of ownership of costly gear (and its ubiquitous personal transport) is paramount, above and beyond the worry about risk of attack, then attacks will continue, moving round the borough as police attention moves round.

[Lotty]

Sorry to hear about your son. I wonder whether it was the same gang that targeted me, my husband and a couple of friends a few weeks ago. There were three of them on bikes, one of which was silver. We reported it to the police.

[EDOliver]

Lotty Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Sorry to hear about your son. I wonder whether it

> was the same gang that targeted me, my husband and

> a couple of friends a few weeks ago. There were

> three of them on bikes, one of which was silver.

> We reported it to the police.

Lotty, what were the circumstances when you were mugged?? Sounds like there was a few of you?

[DJKillaQueen]

Sorry to hear about your son and his friends Brian.

The Police are taking teenage robbery very seriously and have been doing so locally for months now, targetting hotspots. Arrests have been made along the way too but they can't be everywhere.

Street robbery does tend to increase with warm weather but it's also worth saying that a boys school (a third full at the moment) but that will eventually hold 900 pupils has not escaped the Police radar.... i.e. sudden influx of teenage men into the area and a growing rise in the level of teenage robbery......even though those involved may well be small in number, but prolific and may not attend the school.

Did your son and his friends report the crime right away? The Police will usually take the victims on patrol looking for the robbers if they do, on the off chance they are still nearby on foot.

[PeckhamRose]

I am sorry to hear about your son and his friends being mugged.

"It's about time our local police took serious notice of this and started making their presence felt with patrolling cars/foot police at night."

What makes you think they do not take serious notice?

I was at the police ward panel the other night and trust me, they do.

I shall assume you reported it to the appropriate departments, numbers etc., which can be found on another thread.

Come along to the next panel and hear what is happening about this and other crimes in the area.

[benmorg]

DJKillaQueen Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Sorry to hear about your son and his friends

> Brian.

>

> The Police are taking teenage robbery very

> seriously and have been doing so locally for

> months now, targetting hotspots. Arrests have been

> made along the way too but they can't be

> everywhere.

>

> Street robbery does tend to increase with warm

> weather but it's also worth saying that a boys

> school (a third full at the moment) but that will

> eventually hold 900 pupils has not escaped the

> Police radar.... i.e. sudden influx of teenage men

> into the area and a growing rise in the level of

> teenage robbery......even though those involved

> may well be small in number, but prolific and may

> not attend the school.

>

> Did your son and his friends report the crime

> right away? The Police will usually take the

> victims on patrol looking for the robbers if they

> do, on the off chance they are still nearby on

> foot.

Do you think the apparent rise in crime is related to the new school on Peckham Rye?

I've also been wondering if the popularity of iPhones is a factor. Maybe when smartphones eventually drop in price the rate of mugging will fall.

[DJKillaQueen]

I can't say for sure if it the school's presence is related to a rise in teenage crime, but there are a couple of ongoing incidents under investigation. For obvious reasons details of them can't be given in a public domain. It is certainly a view of the Police that such a large influx of young men into one area will present problems that concern them.

The iphone and similarly expensive but easily carried items may well be an attraction for local robbers.

[benmorg]

Maybe there is no rise in crime - just a rise in the popularity of reporting it on the forum. Dulwich had been a hotspot for burglars for years. I'm not entirely convinced anything has changed.

DJKillaQueen Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I can't say for sure if it the school's presence

> is related to a rise in teenage crime, but there

> are a couple of ongoing incidents under

> investigation. For obvious reasons details of them

> can't be given in a public domain. It is certainly

> a view of the Police that such a large influx of

> young men into one area will present problems that

> concern them.

>

> The iphone and similarly expensive but easily

> carried items may well be an attraction for local

> robbers.

[the-e-dealer]

Harris don't allow Mobile phones in the School.

[sandyman]

I'd love to know how Harris enforces the no phones rule - Charter also has it and at a conservative estimate i'd say 90% of kids take their phones in. All the ones i know certainly do...

[Brian Tee]

A shame the street gangs just see mobiles as crime currency. My son was carrying an old handset that I bought as a spare about 6 years ago - really nothing worth owning, and the battery was virtually useless. The kind mugger was thoughtful enough to take out the SIM card and give it back.

On the 'off-piste' subject of mobiles in schools, the Head of Technology at Bacon's is opposed to a ban on mobiles, despite the school now operating a 'See it, hear it lose it' campagn.

He thinks mobiles can be usefully employed to log homework and other project work, as well as video-recording practical demonstrations in Science to help with writing up experiments. I think he has a point.

[the-e-dealer]

Search and if they find one confiscate it for THE WHOLE TERM . And if they ring or get them out similar. I believe.