LIBERAL Democrat leaders in Ealing met Supt Sean Lynch to discuss a range of issues including stop and search, the Casey Report, Safer Neighbourhood teams, anti-social behaviour in Hanwell, the Community Road Watch scheme and car thefts.

He had been in the role for only a month when the meeting with opposition leader Cllr Gary Malcolm and the party spokesperson on policing, Cllr Connie Hersch, took place at Ealing police station.

Safer Neighbourhood teams

The councillors said constables and PCSOs were moved to other areas too frequently. They felt it was crucial for team members to know their area gain intelligence for their work.

Supt Lynch said it was likely that officers would be moving less often and staying for 18 months or more.

Casey Review

This is the independent review into the standards of behaviour and internal culture in the Met. The commander admitted more needs to be done to lift standards, especially in the training of newer officers.

Cllr Malcolm reflected: “We had the impression the police had no clear plan how to measure changes and improvements in public confidence and the treatment of public, staff, and police officers.

“It appeared at this stage little had changed.”

Community Road Watch

In Southfield, the safer-driving scheme had worked well, but in the last year officers had not given it priority, said the councillors. Many volunteers were feeling ignored.

Supt Lynchaccepted an invitation to visit Southfield to see the scheme for himself.

Anti-social behaviour in Hanwell

Following reports of drinking, public defecation and drug use in the centre of Hanwell, Supt Lynch was pressed on how police have been working with Ealing Council on the issue.

Both sides, he said, had been looking at ways to find more police resources to address the issues.

Stop and search

The commander said targeting the ‘right’ people was difficult. He admitted any search was invasive and that more training was needed to respect people’s privacy as much as possible.