I had the pleasure of attending the Community Policing Engagement Group public meeting at the Civic Centre on Wednesday.

It was great to meet with everybody and to hear some great ideas on how we can work smarter and more effectively in partnership.

It was also extremely pleasing to hear how highly Merton police are regarded.


As I mentioned last week we have reached the end of our performance year.

I am really happy to report that we were one of only a few boroughs to end with a reduction in crime overall which is fantastic and I aim to build on that success this year.


I am also pleased to tell you about our new initiative Operation Atlas that started this week.

This is a four week operation that involves both plain clothes and uniform patrols to target burglary and robbery.

We have arrested six people on suspicion of burglary and investigations are ongoing. We are aiming to catch as many people as possible responsible for these crimes and to deter them from committing these offences in the future, so this is a great start.


We also went live on Twitter on Tuesday and I am pleased to say the initial uptake has been really positive, we have already got 140 followers with numbers steadily climbing.

Myself and others will be "Tweeting" regular updates and will also be posting upcoming meetings and events that you can attend.

Please sign up to follow us at @MPSMerton but remember that this is not monitored 24/7 and is not for reporting crimes although we will be as interactive as possible! We are open to any advice you may have on how to improve as this is all new to us!


One final thing: two-times World Heavyweight Boxing Champion "Terrible" Tim Witherspoon is visiting Wimbledon Police Station on Tuesday around midday do to some photos for the Charity Match between he and I in October so please pop along if you would like to meet him.

Detective Chief Superintendent Darren Williams is the borough commander for Merton Police. He joined in January 2012 and wants Wimbledon Guardian readers to contact him with ideas on how to improving policing in our borough.

To put forward a suggestion or a question, email: newsdesk@wimbledonguardian.co.uk and put "Merton police" in the subject line.

Click here for more messages from the borough commander.