Forum Topic

West Ealing — Why Are Council and Police Failing Us?

After watching yet another shoplifter run out of one of the few shops still trading, stepping over a beggar lying prone on the pavement, and seeing a drug deal behind Sainsbury’s, I can’t help but ask: why do we tolerate this?West Ealing isn’t just struggling, it is one of the borough’s worst hotspots. In a recent community survey by West Ealing Neighbours, 76% of residents said they don’t feel safe here, and only 29% of those affected by anti-social behaviour even report it, because nothing seems to change. Police data shows West Ealing’s anti-social behaviour rate is 26.8 per 1,000 people, ranking it among the highest in London.And this sits within a borough already in trouble. Ealing recorded over 32,000 offences last year, a 5.9% rise even as crime nationally edged down. Violent crime has climbed by more than a third since 2014.So the question is obvious: why have the Labour-run council and the Metropolitan Police’s local leadership allowed West Ealing to fall so far, so fast? If they can’t turn it around, shouldn’t they be replaced? There are some great people in this area — why should they be forced to live like this?

Mark callan ● 41d36 Comments

It's good to hear that it's useful.  It's very frustrating trying to deal with some of the websites or numbers we are told to use.Peter YaleHave you tried using www.fixmystreet.com to report any problems.  I used to use this a lot but I know the Council prefer their own system but www.fixmystreet.com allows you to place an arrow on the map to show where any problem you are trying to tell them about.BTW  Ealing Half Marathon is on Sunday 28 September and there are of course road closures and bus diversions.https://www.ealinghalfmarathon.com/resident-information/includes map

Philippa Bond ● 20d

Dear Flippa  I for one am using it and it's a welcome change from the others.

Peter Tolhust ● 20d

Has anybody used this website?

Philippa Bond ● 20d

Lol this one:https://www.met.police.uk/police-forces/metropolitan-police/areas/campaigns/2025/stay-informed-with-met-engage/

Philippa Bond ● 20d

And it's also called a ShitHole.Plain and simple.  👍      😆

Rosco White ● 34d

Try sending it to a Councillor or someone else as well because as I found with Oxford Council it was pure laziness on their part.  I went to a lot of trouble as a visitor to photograph and send that photograph of a dangerous pothole that I saw from a bus when stopped at the traffic lights and work out which junction it was (unknown to me) and they said - please send it to someone else! I'd already spent too much time and made too much of an effort.

Philippa Bond ● 35d

It’s called theft, plain & simple

Peter Yale ● 35d

Well done Paul. Clearly a quiet day for you to have so much time to Google so much.Sainsbury’s in Chiswick has had the scan to exit system in place for years. Other shops have also had them in place for years. Some shops, including Morrisons in Brentford, keep high value items like spirits in locked cabinets. So shops are taking preventative action.Your assertion that it’s the fault of shops having stock out on open shelves is yet more silliness from you. Most shops instruct staff not to apprehend shoplifters because of the danger should the criminals get violent. This applies to shops with manned tills or self-service.I was in Oxford last week and witnessed a shoplifter being challenged by three members of staff in a Sainsbury’s Local. She just laughed at them and ran off with her bottle of cider and wasn’t chased down the road.What you might find problematic is the lack of available magistrates courts to deal with the proliferation of what is a relatively low level offence. It’s often months before coming to trial and sentences are too lenient to be a deterrent. Removing the minimum value requirement won’t change that, and the police aren’t really bothered with theft (hence those cycling types who snatch phones getting away with it).

Simon Hayes ● 35d

> and no visible staff.Somewhere there was a conversation that went like this:"how much is it to have staffed tills, and if we take the staff away and have automatic self serve tills, how much we will lose from shoplifting, and which will cost us more?..."I see lido are trying to tackle this by having people scan their receipt to get out the barrier.

Paul James ● 35d

>but that’s not the shops fault.Peter. Try leaving your car with the keys in or bike unlocked on the street and then when it's taken, go to the police and when you tell them, see what they say...In fact, if you left your car on the street with your keys in and it's taken then the police may prosecute YOU as doing this is an offence under road traffic act.And it was the government under David Cameron that introduced the "under £200 police must ignore it" rule which is being repealed at the moment.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/crime-and-policing-bill-2025-factsheets/crime-and-policing-bill-retail-crime-factsheet

Paul James ● 35d

To some extent it is ‘the shops’ fault’, starting with the introduction of supermarkets with open shelves in the first place, where you were encouraged/expected to help yourself.  Then other initiatives such as self-checkouts and self-scanning have put even more onus on the customer to do the work once done by shop staff.  I gather that theft by employees is a greater source of losses in the retail trade, particularly in distribution warehouses, where poor staff relations discourage trust or loyalty.

Peter Evans ● 36d

Both wrong, but that’s not the shops fault.Pay for goods or it’s shoplifting & police must act

Peter Yale ● 36d

Well that has happened with all the glass windows and wide opening doors to the street in order to invite prospective shoppers in and no visible staff.Yes the cost get passed on to us.There are also people who steal to order and people who are too ready to buy stolen goods.

Philippa Bond ● 36d

Everyone knows it’s quite simple. All goods in a shop must be paid for.Otherwise it’s theft.The rest of us normal shoppers, pay  the price

Peter Yale ● 36d

Shop design plays a part in this too I think, as much as I like the convienience of scanning stuff myself and walking straight out.I can imagine the police thinking "well, if you're not protecting your stock properly, don't come crying to us when you get your stuff taken".

Paul James ● 36d

I know exactly where I live  - of course.However if I have had cause to phone up a company, for whatever reason.They cant look into matter unless they have full postcode.For example, quite often temporary lights fail, when I get home I phone, give the road names, know its W something for example. That’s never good enough for them

Peter Yale ● 38d

You are now giving the impression you don't know where you live!

Philippa Bond ● 38d

Well you are right to point out the hollowing out of the state but that is part of neo-liberalism and the belief in the reduction of investment in the state.

Philippa Bond ● 39d

"Most of this is due to drugs and drug dealing ....."No, drugs and drug dealing have been around for decades.It's because of a lack of ENFORCEMENT and PUNISHMENT.Because Government, Police, Judiciary, Education, You Name It have been hollowed out/emasculated by decades of the invidious Weak Wet Lefty Liberal Woke Disease.

Rosco White ● 39d

A lot of fuss and complaints too in leafy Chiswick about all the shoplifting.  Most of this is due to drugs and drug dealing and most of this seemed to have been centred on one particular house.  The way that the police have been not interested in thefts worth less than a certain amount and shopworkers were advised to keep clear to avoid injury has encouraged rather than discouraged theft.  Hopefully the tide has turned.

Philippa Bond ● 39d

The leafy roads of Acton Hill and Acton High Street have similar problems. Walking  home after dark from bus stops or tube on your own is no longer safe.  Car parks especially Morrisons under cover one are scary places . Men stand by your var door when you try to get out asking for money. Collecting your pound from the trolley  is a no no. The streets are kitterd with rubbish, and the bays and pavents are clutterd up with men  on mopeds , usually with L plates  ., waiting for orders of food to be delivered. They ignore the 20 mph speed limit and roar down Uxbridge Road at break neck speed . Some of them live in the Acton Hotels where everything is paid for so shoiuldnot be working anyway. The little parks and gardens have scary men in black hoodies  sitting there all day snorting stuff and using  the gardens as a latrene.. The stench on a hot day..Urgh !!  It is no longer safe to exercise our dogs when All the benches are occupied.  Hard drugs are dropped on the ground and several dogs have snaffled it when sniffing around and finished up in the vets  for expensive treatment after they have collapsed. Admittedly The Met. have done their  best to get rid  of the junkies and drinkers on The Mount and Market Square but they only had two Officers for Acton . I believe they have now increased the  number available to chase up the dealers and remove the junkies waiting around for their next fix. Mainly because Acton folk filled in their  survey outlining all their concerns

Beryl Bashford ● 39d

It really IS.Cant just send info, usually need to register or set up account.Must have exact postcode, not just W13 or W7 etc.

Peter Yale ● 39d

>Trying to report is a major headache, It really isn't, takes about five minutes here:https://www.met.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime/

Paul James ● 39d

>There will be some on here that will decry you for talking the are down and implying that it is a 'shithole'(their word)Mark didn't dismiss the whole area as a "sh*thole", others on here did.Nobody on here has said west ealing doesn't need to change for the better, I just suggested that people dismissing west ealing as a sh*thole in a blanket way were not clear in their motivations for doing so, especially as there are people on this board working really hard to halp make it a better place, and there are some great things going on there, along with some very obvious problems.

Paul James ● 39d

It would seem that the Ward Councillors responsible for West Ealing are taking a very keen interest.  🤣Now, I wonder which Party they represent? Because they sure as hell ain't representing the residents.

Rosco White ● 39d

What about your local councillors?  Aren't they taking an interest?

Philippa Bond ● 40d

I have previously taken pictures of people using drugs in the open and shared it with the police. The only response I received was ‘this is part of on ongoing investigation’ and no updates on subsequent progress. Needless to say, the problem still remains. This council and the MET are thoroughly useless.

Nick Roll ● 40d

Actually, that’s not correct — it is a hotspot and it’s starting to get out of control. Just today I walked past two beggars outside Sainsbury’s, a clearly mentally ill lady in the car park, and I saw a fight outside the British Heart Foundation at about 4pm. It is becoming dangerous to just walk through. Think about that for a moment. I do make reports, and have done so before, but frankly very little gets done. I don’t see it this bad when I visit relatives in other parts of London or outside the capital. Yes, everywhere has problems, but crime in this part of West Ealing is now a real problem and well above the London average.I’ve decided to move gyms, I won’t shop there anymore, and I’ll avoid the area. Based on my experience, I cannot risk my safety and that of my family.

Mark callan ● 40d

Yes, I have, and I’ve done so before as well. The problem is that frankly very little actually gets done, and that’s the issue. Reporting creates “data” but what people see on the ground is no visible action. That gap between reporting and results is why residents are losing confidence.Just today I walked past two beggars outside Sainsbury’s, a clearly mentally ill lady in the car park, and I saw a fight outside the British Heart Foundation. I could spend all day reporting incidents like this — the problem isn’t that residents don’t see or report, it’s that nothing changes.

Mark callan ● 40d

Lobotomised Lemmings still blindly believing Liebore are competent and blaming everything and everyone else. That genius Milliband anybody?  🤣Conservatives were only marginally better, some would argue a LOT better, even though they were still carp.BIG changes coming or there'll be serious civil unrest.

Rosco White ● 40d

Energy price increase again now. EVERYTHING goes up, utility bills, food shopping. Fuel, fares, rent/mortgage etc etc.Government are meant to look after their people.Blame Ukraine war, Covid, weather, oil price.Council  tax every year, for what. There’s less & less services , bins not emptied, dumped cars, trees , bushes. & parks grass overgrown.Trying to report is a major headache, make anything as difficult as possible, to determine you 😡😡😡

Peter Yale ● 40d

This won't be much consolation but this isn't just a problem in West Ealing.  It's all over the country and has a lot to do with the cost of living.  As advised please make sure you make the reports to the police.

Philippa Bond ● 40d

Mark, I have every sympathy with what you're seeing in West Ealing, and it is unacceptable that we are seeing a continuing decline in the area. Look at the shops in West Ealing Broadway that are boarded up and covered in graffiti without any comeback to the property owners.The council has just approved a new apart hotel on the old Woolworths site. All local residents are aware that the council will use it for short-term accommodation for either local people or those seeking a permanent life in the UK, and will not contribute to the economic success of our borough.However, I could continue on this tangent about other issues that the council disregards or tries to blame others for. This council has been in power long enough to do things properly.However, I make no apology for repeating this. A direct question to Mark: Did you report the drug deal, and did you report the beggar (anti-social behaviour) on the Met Police web pages?Remember, the Police are 'data-led ' and will only react if there is a spike in reports in specific areas 

Bill Trenchard ● 41d

It's a duck allright!  😆Except to some voters it's a beautiful, white swan.  😂

Rosco White ● 41d

Thank you for your post and the stats. Mark.They paint a very sad picture of the rapid decline of an area that used to be a good place to visit and to shop in.There will be some on here that will decry you for talking the are down and implying that it is a 'shithole'(their word) now,but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck etc..

Keith Iddon ● 41d

It is patently obvious that the elected officials who are supposed to represent and support you just don't care.Three words - USE YOUR VOTE.And have quiet words with the brainless idiots who consistently vote only one way without knowing or caring about The Issues.

Rosco White ● 41d