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Terry Stacy |
Barnsbury is crime hotspot on net
New police maps on web allow residents to discover number of incidents in individual areas
A POCKET of leafy Barnsbury has the highest crime rate in the borough outside of Finsbury, according to new police crime maps launched this week.
Most of Islington is rated average on the new maps, which have been posted up on the internet and allow residents to effectively put clusters of streets – known as “sub wards” – under the microscope. According to the website, the most unsafe area is the whole of Finsbury south of Old Street, which is marked in a deep red to indicate high crime. According to the map, there were 27 crimes in Bunhill in July and 23 in June.
One of the safest places is Meredith Street in Clerkenwell, with zero crimes this month.
A small area of the exclusive neighbourhood of Barnsbury – Muriel Street and Charlotte Terrace – is the only other area in Islington to be rated “high”.
But the figures hide a much wider picture. While this month Muriel Terrace was marked red, if you were to look at the same area in June, it would have been a safe light blue for low crime as there were no incidents.
Similarly, part of Fairbridge Road, in Hillrise ward, is shown to be a safe area, again marked in light blue, with no crimes this month and six last month.
But if you look at the next sub-ward along, just metres away, the same road is marked as “above average”, with eight crimes this month, including one murder, and 10 in June.
The area surrounding the Emirates stadium, and most of Finsbury Park, except the park itself, have also been rated “average”.
Islington Council crime chief Terry Stacy said: “I welcome residents being able to access this information, but I do think there’s an element of caution that needs to be attached to it.
“As we can see from the Barnsbury statistics it only takes one stint of incidents for the statistics for the area to be totally and utterly spurred. If you look at the overall statistics for Islington, you’ll see crime has fallen, brought about by the police and Islington Council.” |
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