Sex market action plea
Sex market action plea
nlnews@archant.co.uk12 October 2006
PROSTITUTES migrating from King's Cross have turned a Holloway street into the "biggest sex market in London", according to a police officer who patrols it.Sergeant Franc Francioni, who leads the Safer Neighbourhoods team for the Holloway ward, says a "hardcore" of 20 prostitutes are working Market Road and Caledonian Park in "shifts" night and day. He is calling on Islington Council to fund a CCTV system to drive out the prostitutes, pimps and kerb-crawlers who plague the area.Sergeant Francioni said: "Since the crackdown in King's Cross, all the girls have simply walked up York Way to the Market Estate. Virtually all of them are drug addicts. "Kerb crawlers are coming from all over London, and unsurprisingly they tend to make themselves scarce whenever uniformed police show up. We only make one arrest a month on average because they are so hard to catch. "Hopefully we can get the funding for a CCTV camera to provide a permanent deterrent so that they stay away altogether."Sharon Jobe, of the Market Estate Tenants' and Residents' Association has been putting pressure on the council to install a camera for years. She said: "When we put posters up a while back saying 'you are being watched' the number of prostitutes fell from 26 to two. Cameras do work."Islington Council says it can only afford a fixed camera to cover one end of the street - but then the prostitutes will simply carry on their business out of sight. "We want to put a rotating camera in the middle of Market Road to cover both ends, but that is more expensive."The council is worried that if it works then residents of other estates will want one too." A raft of measures have already been taken to combat the area's prostitution problem, including thinning the tree cover and building new fences. David Kelly, of the Friends of Caledonian Park, believes CCTV would make a big difference. He said: "The biggest deterrent to prostitution and anti-social behaviour is the presence of the public in the park. But at the moment no-one will come here - it was disgusting the amount of needles and debris they found when they cleared the trees. "We need the cameras to break the vicious cycle so that residents can take back the park. Islington is particularly lacking in green space, so it is especially sad that it is used by prostitutes and drug dealers. "Sadly most of the girls seem to have substance abuse and mental health problems. They are hardly Julia Roberts."Councillor Marisha Ray said: "We welcome the police presence in King's Cross and we are taking action on Market Road and Caledonian Park. It is an exaggeration to say that it has as a result become the largest sex market in London. "We are using outreach workers to target sex workers to give them advice on services that are available to help them, have put up posters to deter punters and CCTV is also due to be installed in Market Road and neighbouring North Road. "Simply moving the problem from the park would push it further into estates and onto doorsteps. It's far more effective to help prostitutes and prosecute kerb crawlers than pushing the problem around the area and hoping it will disappear. "We have worked very closely with the Caledonian Park Users' Group to make sure the park is redesigned and opened up to help tackle the issue of sex workers in the park. At the same time we have funded a range of services to strengthen local communities along Market Road, for example, by funding a number of art activities for children and young people as well as tenants' and residents' association events. "Since the arrival of the safer neighbourhood policing team, the number of sex workers and associated anti social behaviour has reduced and we are confident the situation will continue to improve.
CCTV would help solve park problems
18 October 2006
* Thank you for your front page expose of "Sex Market Action Plea".As a matter of urgency Islington Council should prioritise the installation of the cctv cameras to make the area around Market Road and Caledonian Park safer for all. Councillor Marisha Ray's glib comments about the area improving are very clearly mistaken. Moreover her claim that simply moving the problem from the park would move the problem into estates and onto doorsteps doesn't hold up. What happened after the regeneration and police action in King's Cross was that prostitutes did not move onto local doorsteps and estates in the vicinity. They moved to the nearest hospitable area that kerb-crawlers, prostitutes and pimps were allowed to colonise. Unfortunately for everyone in Islington that was Market Road and Caledonian Park.It seems to me by her inaction that Councillor Ray has introduced her own "Zone of Tolerance" via the backdoor.I'm not trying to just geographically shift the problem. I want Islington Council to actually do something to help. -
David Kelly, Friends of Caledonian Park, N7.
TV crime busters
26 October 2006
THIRTY CCTV cameras will be placed in crime hot-spots throughout Islington in a new £1million crackdown on prostitution and anti-social behaviour.The location of the cameras has already been decided with advice from police and local groups. Most will be at the Angel, and in Archway and Holloway where crime is at its highest. All the sites are currently being surveyed to find the best possible position for the cameras. All cameras will be able to rotate 360 degrees and engineers hope to have them installed before the end of the year.Councillor Marisha Ray said: "These cameras will be effective as a deterrent for crime as well as helping to gather evidence."Islington is about more than just the Angel and the A1 centre, so new cameras will be spread right across the borough from Lever Street to Stroud Green Road. "We will monitor the effect they have on areas outside of their reach to make sure that problems are not moved to other places."Islington police say they are delighted with the new cameras. Inspector John Archell said: "This is a positive step forward, providing increased reassurance and security to the people of Islington." One camera will be in Market Road, Holloway, where residents have been campaigning for CCTV to combat the sex trade.Sharon Jobe, chairwoman of the Market Estate Tenants and Residents Association, said: "I am overjoyed by the announcement of the new cameras. Hopefully they will be able to tackle prostitution in North Road and Market Road and the amount of crime in the area." Sergeant Franc Francioni, a police officer who patrols the area, said: "Hopefully the CCTV cameras will reinforce our message and keep the kerb-crawlers away."If the market diminishes the girls should move on too." Where the 30 spy cameras will be...1. Entrance to the N1 Centre, (Liverpool Road)2. Outside the Angel Tube3. Entrance to the N1 Centre, (Upper Street)4. Colebrooke Row junction with Noel Road 5. Prebend Street junction with Packington Street6. Upper Street junction with Almeida Street7. Essex Road junction with River Place (second camera)8. North Road junction with Goodinge Close 9. North Road junction with Surr Street10. Seven Sisters Road junction with Durham Road11. Holloway Road junction with Tufnell Park Road12. Seven Sisters Road junction with Hornsey Road13. Entrance to Archway Tube Station (second camera)14. Central Street junction with Bastwick Street15. Bloomfield Street (Near Parkfield Street entrance of the N1)16. Spencer Street (outside City University) 17. Lever Street junction with Central Street18. Colemans Fields junction with Prebend Street19. Elthorne Park20. Margery Fry Court (Tufnell Park Road at junction with Carleton Road)21. Stroud Green Road22. Exmouth Market/Rosoman Street23. Ilford House facing into Dover court Estate24. McIndoe Court facing into Rosemary Gardens25. Fieldway Crescent26. Newington Green 27. St Thomas's Road/Quill Street28. Caledonian Road/Bridgeman Road29. Market Road30. Barnard Park
Sex market action plea
nlnews@archant.co.uk12 October 2006
PROSTITUTES migrating from King's Cross have turned a Holloway street into the "biggest sex market in London", according to a police officer who patrols it.Sergeant Franc Francioni, who leads the Safer Neighbourhoods team for the Holloway ward, says a "hardcore" of 20 prostitutes are working Market Road and Caledonian Park in "shifts" night and day. He is calling on Islington Council to fund a CCTV system to drive out the prostitutes, pimps and kerb-crawlers who plague the area.Sergeant Francioni said: "Since the crackdown in King's Cross, all the girls have simply walked up York Way to the Market Estate. Virtually all of them are drug addicts. "Kerb crawlers are coming from all over London, and unsurprisingly they tend to make themselves scarce whenever uniformed police show up. We only make one arrest a month on average because they are so hard to catch. "Hopefully we can get the funding for a CCTV camera to provide a permanent deterrent so that they stay away altogether."Sharon Jobe, of the Market Estate Tenants' and Residents' Association has been putting pressure on the council to install a camera for years. She said: "When we put posters up a while back saying 'you are being watched' the number of prostitutes fell from 26 to two. Cameras do work."Islington Council says it can only afford a fixed camera to cover one end of the street - but then the prostitutes will simply carry on their business out of sight. "We want to put a rotating camera in the middle of Market Road to cover both ends, but that is more expensive."The council is worried that if it works then residents of other estates will want one too." A raft of measures have already been taken to combat the area's prostitution problem, including thinning the tree cover and building new fences. David Kelly, of the Friends of Caledonian Park, believes CCTV would make a big difference. He said: "The biggest deterrent to prostitution and anti-social behaviour is the presence of the public in the park. But at the moment no-one will come here - it was disgusting the amount of needles and debris they found when they cleared the trees. "We need the cameras to break the vicious cycle so that residents can take back the park. Islington is particularly lacking in green space, so it is especially sad that it is used by prostitutes and drug dealers. "Sadly most of the girls seem to have substance abuse and mental health problems. They are hardly Julia Roberts."Councillor Marisha Ray said: "We welcome the police presence in King's Cross and we are taking action on Market Road and Caledonian Park. It is an exaggeration to say that it has as a result become the largest sex market in London. "We are using outreach workers to target sex workers to give them advice on services that are available to help them, have put up posters to deter punters and CCTV is also due to be installed in Market Road and neighbouring North Road. "Simply moving the problem from the park would push it further into estates and onto doorsteps. It's far more effective to help prostitutes and prosecute kerb crawlers than pushing the problem around the area and hoping it will disappear. "We have worked very closely with the Caledonian Park Users' Group to make sure the park is redesigned and opened up to help tackle the issue of sex workers in the park. At the same time we have funded a range of services to strengthen local communities along Market Road, for example, by funding a number of art activities for children and young people as well as tenants' and residents' association events. "Since the arrival of the safer neighbourhood policing team, the number of sex workers and associated anti social behaviour has reduced and we are confident the situation will continue to improve.
CCTV would help solve park problems
18 October 2006
* Thank you for your front page expose of "Sex Market Action Plea".As a matter of urgency Islington Council should prioritise the installation of the cctv cameras to make the area around Market Road and Caledonian Park safer for all. Councillor Marisha Ray's glib comments about the area improving are very clearly mistaken. Moreover her claim that simply moving the problem from the park would move the problem into estates and onto doorsteps doesn't hold up. What happened after the regeneration and police action in King's Cross was that prostitutes did not move onto local doorsteps and estates in the vicinity. They moved to the nearest hospitable area that kerb-crawlers, prostitutes and pimps were allowed to colonise. Unfortunately for everyone in Islington that was Market Road and Caledonian Park.It seems to me by her inaction that Councillor Ray has introduced her own "Zone of Tolerance" via the backdoor.I'm not trying to just geographically shift the problem. I want Islington Council to actually do something to help. -
David Kelly, Friends of Caledonian Park, N7.
TV crime busters
26 October 2006
THIRTY CCTV cameras will be placed in crime hot-spots throughout Islington in a new £1million crackdown on prostitution and anti-social behaviour.The location of the cameras has already been decided with advice from police and local groups. Most will be at the Angel, and in Archway and Holloway where crime is at its highest. All the sites are currently being surveyed to find the best possible position for the cameras. All cameras will be able to rotate 360 degrees and engineers hope to have them installed before the end of the year.Councillor Marisha Ray said: "These cameras will be effective as a deterrent for crime as well as helping to gather evidence."Islington is about more than just the Angel and the A1 centre, so new cameras will be spread right across the borough from Lever Street to Stroud Green Road. "We will monitor the effect they have on areas outside of their reach to make sure that problems are not moved to other places."Islington police say they are delighted with the new cameras. Inspector John Archell said: "This is a positive step forward, providing increased reassurance and security to the people of Islington." One camera will be in Market Road, Holloway, where residents have been campaigning for CCTV to combat the sex trade.Sharon Jobe, chairwoman of the Market Estate Tenants and Residents Association, said: "I am overjoyed by the announcement of the new cameras. Hopefully they will be able to tackle prostitution in North Road and Market Road and the amount of crime in the area." Sergeant Franc Francioni, a police officer who patrols the area, said: "Hopefully the CCTV cameras will reinforce our message and keep the kerb-crawlers away."If the market diminishes the girls should move on too." Where the 30 spy cameras will be...1. Entrance to the N1 Centre, (Liverpool Road)2. Outside the Angel Tube3. Entrance to the N1 Centre, (Upper Street)4. Colebrooke Row junction with Noel Road 5. Prebend Street junction with Packington Street6. Upper Street junction with Almeida Street7. Essex Road junction with River Place (second camera)8. North Road junction with Goodinge Close 9. North Road junction with Surr Street10. Seven Sisters Road junction with Durham Road11. Holloway Road junction with Tufnell Park Road12. Seven Sisters Road junction with Hornsey Road13. Entrance to Archway Tube Station (second camera)14. Central Street junction with Bastwick Street15. Bloomfield Street (Near Parkfield Street entrance of the N1)16. Spencer Street (outside City University) 17. Lever Street junction with Central Street18. Colemans Fields junction with Prebend Street19. Elthorne Park20. Margery Fry Court (Tufnell Park Road at junction with Carleton Road)21. Stroud Green Road22. Exmouth Market/Rosoman Street23. Ilford House facing into Dover court Estate24. McIndoe Court facing into Rosemary Gardens25. Fieldway Crescent26. Newington Green 27. St Thomas's Road/Quill Street28. Caledonian Road/Bridgeman Road29. Market Road30. Barnard Park
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