A new policing team focused on tackling street crime in Barking and Dagenham has been unveiled. 

The Crime and Enforcement Taskforce will be based in the Barking Learning Centre and will be predominantly responsible for tackling crimes identified as a priority by the council, such as patrolling the borough’s housing estates, where they can utilise stop and search powers.

As well as this, the team will be tasked with:

• tackling drug dealing, antisocial behaviour, violence and criminal damage 
•  enforcing injunctions against people that are carrying antisocial behaviour and working with Council officers to deal with complex antisocial behaviour cases
• helping to close down brothels and cannabis factories 
• preventing illegal traveller camps 
• carrying out outreach events to tell residents about the work they will be doing and acting on residents’ feedback and concerns

Barking and Dagenham Council’s Crime and Enforcement Taskforce will consist of nine police officers and one police sergeant. The team will have at least four officers on duty every day of the week. 

Resident safety is one of our top priorities ... The new Crime and Enforcement Taskforce will tackle issues that we know have a significant impact on our communities and the lives of people who live in them. 

Councillor Margaret Mullane, Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety, said: “We have suffered from massive government cuts to the police and lost 1,000 officers from the East Area Police Basic Command Unit since 2010.

"We shouldn’t have to spend additional council funds on something central government should already be investing in properly, however, resident safety is one of our top priorities and that is why we are prepared to pump money into policing in Barking and Dagenham. 

“The new Crime and Enforcement Taskforce will pick up where the estates team left-off, tackling issues that we know have a significant impact on our communities and the lives of people who live in them.”

The taskforce supersedes the now defunct estates team, which had been in operation since 2016.