We sat down with local Dulwich police to find out more about their work in the area. The neighbourhood police are assigned to teams in the constituency wards in the area - Dulwich Village, Dulwich Wood, Dulwich Hill (all based at Gipsy Hill Station) and Goose Green. We talked to Sergeant Mark Zissler, who oversees the Dulwich Village and Dulwich Wood teams.
What is the role of a Safer Neighbourhood Team in the Met?
Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNT) offer a local team of Dedicated Ward Officers who focus on individual wards within the Metropolitan Police (the Met). This allows them to build up knowledge of their local area to offer the best policing response to the communities they serve. This includes where problems usually occur and previous incidents, allowing for a focussed approach to low level crime such as anti-social behaviour (ASB), aiming to prevent ASB from developing into more serious crime in the area. Officers in SNT have quarterly meetings with locally appointed representatives from the Safer Neighbourhood Ward Panel, made up of volunteers from the local area and open to members of the community to raise any concerns about crime in their local area. These meetings set local crime-related ward priorities for the SNT teams to focus on over the next 3 months. [Ed: Find out about your local ward panel meeting and upcoming dates via “Your Area” on the Met Police website https://www.met.police.uk/]
Tell me the best thing about being an SNT officer in Dulwich?
Dulwich is a unique area to work in. We have a high number of secondary schools within Dulwich Village and Dulwich Wood, along with lovely green areas such as Dulwich Park and Belair Park. This brings with it some challenges to policing, which we have seen with youth robberies in the area. Thankfully, we have an engaged community in Dulwich, who want the area to be as safe as possible for themselves, their families and those visiting Dulwich. I see great partnership work between the Police, local charities and engagement teams.
If we had a magic wand, what one thing would you want to change?
All the officers in my wards have joined the Police because they want to make a change for the better, in the role they are undertaking. This may be through engaging with a victim of crime and offering support and advice, or enforcing laws to bring offenders to justice. As has been highlighted by the Met Commissioner, at present policing across the UK has fewer officers dealing with an increased population.
The one thing I would change would be to increase officer numbers, allowing us to give a better service to the community of London. The Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, highlighted in February 2024 to the London Assembly that there were concerns about the shortfall of Police Officers. In March 2024 we were about 1400 short and there are approximately 5000 fewer officers than a decade ago. I believe the cost of living in London compared to County Forces will inevitably have an effect. Any support is appreciated; however, this is not just a local issue, with policing nationwide being affected.
[Ed: If you want to contact your MP to encourage the allocation of more resources to policing, email
Crime prevention advice - what are the key messages for residents?
I would advise people to take crime preventative measures to reduce the risk of being a victim of crime. This includes the ‘Look Up, Look Out’ campaign, highlighting how people should be aware of their surroundings and not on their phone in public places. I’d also like to suggest Faraday pouches for owners of keyless vehicles to avoid the frequency of their car key being scanned. Always lock your car doors and make your car visibly empty.
We have seen an increase in parcel thefts from doorsteps. I would advise people if they are unlikely to be in when a delivery occurs to make use of a drop box or delivery centre to avoid this happening.
Much more crime prevention advice can be found on the Metropolitan Police website or by contacting your local SNT to raise any concerns you have. Prevention advice is also discussed at the regular “Cuppa with a Copper” events.
How can we encourage residents to report incidents and crimes? Is there still a reluctance to report crime or a feeling that there is no point?
There are various ways to contact police to report a crime. Call 999 in emergency situations such as: there is an immediate danger to life, a crime is happening right now, someone is using violence or is threatening to be violent or if the suspect is still on scene. If it’s not an emergency, people can report crime to police via 101 or via the Met Police website www.met.police.uk/. Some people will report crimes directly to the Safer Neighbourhood Ward email addresses. Due to officers working shifts, these reports should be made instead via 101 or the website. If residents have information about crime, in particular people responsible for violent crime, they can provide this information anonymously to police via Crimestoppers either by calling 0800 555 111 or online.
As a local SNT Sergeant, I would encourage everyone to report incidents of crime to police. If they are not reported, we don’t know what has happened and can’t plan to address the issue. I appreciate some young people may be threatened not to contact police; however, I would ask that they do get in touch. We can contact them over the phone or visit without wearing uniform to discuss all the options in terms of progressing a case to court if the victim wishes this to happen.
One issue raised frequently by residents is that evidence is not accepted - can you explain what is good evidence that can lead to an arrest and charge?
That is a great question; however, the answer isn’t simple. The Police capture all available evidence for an offence and an independent review officer will look at this prior to a charge being authorised, or the case being sent to the Crown Prosecution Service for their independent review. During this process, we must determine what reasonable lines of enquiry there are to prove the offence. I mention reasonable lines of enquiry as police officer time is a finite resource, and we must determine what the general public would think is reasonable for the level of offence committed. There are other barriers in our way though, such as CCTV being provided but suspects wearing face coverings or image quality hindering the identification of a suspect. When crimes are reported to the police, sergeants will review each one and set investigation plans for the Officer in Charge to follow.
There was a Walk and Talk event recently which was well attended by residents. How can we expand these events?
The local team will look to arrange more walk and talk events throughout the ward, and these will be advertised on our newsletter and via social media. If people have specific concerns that they want to discuss via a Walk and Talk, they can reach out to the local team via the ‘Your Area’ section on the Metropolitan Police website.
Cuppa with a Copper events - the Society finds these useful but would like to see more residents attending. How can we publicise them better?
All upcoming events which are planned by the Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNT) across the Metropolitan Police are advertised in the ‘Your Area’ section of the Metropolitan Police website. Most SNT teams have X (formerly Twitter) accounts where activities are shared, and they are also highlighted in our monthly newsletters to the community. If people would like to receive the monthly newsletters, they can contact their local SNT via the ‘Your Area’ section as well.