Staying Safe

The Community Safety Partnership is ‘Working together, keeping Haringey safe’. Over the past few years we have achieved some excellent results. We have seen steady reductions in the overall volume of crime committed in Haringey, which means fewer victims and more time spent on crime prevention and detection. With your help we can help reduce crime levels even further.

Taking sensible precautions can limit risk and reduce crime. These pages give you practical tips and advice to help you keep yourself and your valuables safe. They also provide contact details for you to seek further advice or report crime as well as find out about volunteering opportunities within your community.

• Report it
• Policing in Haringey
• Property crime
• Safety tips and advice
• Inside your home
• Motor vehicle crime
• Personal safety
• Stop and Search: what you need to know
• General safety tips
• Our community
• Local Police Stations

Report it

Working together, keeping Haringey safe

You can help reduce crime by reporting anything you think is dangerous or suspicious.

• In an emergency always call 999

An emergency is when a crime is happening, someone suspected of a crime is nearby, someone is injured, being threatened or in danger. For example, if your house is being burgled or the suspect is nearby.

• For non emergency calls dial 101

Anyone can report Anti-Social Behaviour on 020 8489 1335.

Opening hours: 

• Monday - 9am to 5pm 
• Tuesday - 9am to 5pm 
• Wednesday - 10am to 5pm 
• Thursday - 9am to 5pm 
• Friday - 9am to 5pm 

If you are a Housing Association tenant you should contact your housing provider.

Noise nuisance issues are dealt with by Haringey’s Enforcement Response service, which has powers to deal with noise problems affecting residents or businesses. To report noise nuisance call the Customer Contact Centre on 020 8489 1335

Opening hours: 

• Monday - 9am to 5pm 
• Tuesday - 9am to 5pm 
• Wednesday - 10am to 5pm 
• Thursday - 9am to 5pm 
• Friday - 9am to 5pm 

Outside of these hours call, 020 8489 0000.

Our noise pages have further information about how to resolve noise nuisance. If you have any doubt about who to contact, please call the Customer Contact Centre.

Many general safety problems, for example broken street lights can be reported directly to the council teams responsible via our Report it page.

If you have any general suggestions on how to make your neighbourhood safer you can email us at safercommunities@haringey.gov.uk

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Policing in Haringey

For more information about policing in Haringey

• Search for your local area on the Metropolitan Police website (external link)
• Follow Haringey police on Twitter @MPSHaringey (external link)

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Property Crime

You can help reduce property crime such as burglary by fitting locks and using them on your home.

Always secure outside doors. Fit barrel locks top and bottom. If you have to use a key, keep it nearby (not in the locks) as you may need to get out quickly in the event of a fire.

For more information see the Metropolitan Police - Protecting your home from crime pages (external link).

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Safety tips and advice

If you are aged over 60 years and concerned about the security of your home you can contact Metropolitan Care and Repair on 020 8829 8310. They will carry out a security audit of your property and can provide a range of security improvements free of charge to members. Please visit the Metropolitan Care and Repair website (external link) for more information.

• Looking after your home: Make sure your front door is secure and strong. If it isn’t, get another one. If you are a Homes for Haringey tenant, you can ask for the housing association to do this for you. You can fit hinge bolts that stop someone pulling the door from its hinges and fix a special steel strip into the doorframe.
• Door Entry Systems: If your block does not have a telephone entry system, talk to the landlord or housing association about putting one in. This may be easier if you get together with other tenants to form a tenants' association. If you do have a telephone entry system, don't let strangers in or hold the door open for someone who is arriving as you are leaving.
• Strangers: Be alert to people loitering in residential streets. If it is no one you recognise, call the police.
• Burglar Alarms: Visible burglar alarms make burglars think twice.
• Front Door Roof: A thief could reach first floor windows from this roof - so fit window locks.
• Gates and Fences: A high wall or fence at the back of a house can put off burglars. Check for weak spots where a thief could get in. A thorny hedge along a boundary can also be a useful deterrent. Make sure the front of the house is still visible to passers by, so that a burglar can't work unseen.
• Small Windows: Even small windows like casement windows, skylights or bathroom fanlights need locks. A thief can get in through any gap larger than a human head.
• Spare Keys: Never leave a spare key in a hiding place like under a doormat, in a flowerpot or inside a letterbox.
• Garages and Sheds: Never leave a garage or shed unlocked. Lock tools and ladders away so that a thief cannot use them to break in.
• Side Passages: Stop a thief getting to the back of the house - where he can work with less chance of being seen - by fitting a high gate across the passage. If you share an alleyway with a neighbour, talk to him or her about sharing the cost.
• Download our Be Aware of Bogus Callers leaflet (PDF, 307KB)

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Inside your home

• If you feel that your house or flat is not secure, ask the crime prevention officer, based at your local police station, for advice.
• If other people such as previous tenants could still have keys that fit, change the locks. Don't give keys to workmen or tradesmen, as they can easily make copies.
• If you hear an intruder, only you can decide how best to handle the situation. You may want to lie quietly to avoid attracting attention to yourself or you may feel more confident if you switch on the lights and make a lot of noise by moving about. Even if you're on your own, call out loudly to an imaginary companion - most burglars will flee empty-handed rather than risking a confrontation. Ring the police as soon as it's safe for you to do so. A telephone extension in your bedroom can make you feel more secure.
• Draw your curtains after dark and if you think there is a prowler outside - dial 999 - and always tell the operator exactly what is happening.

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Motor Vehicle Crime

You can help reduce crime by parking securely and ensuring that you remove all valuables from the car.

Safety tips and advice:

• Always lock your car doors and windows and use the steering lock. Use a Thatcham approved physical security device, such as a steering wheel clamp.
• Never leave keys in the ignition and the car unattended, not even on your front drive while waiting for it to de-ice
• Lock your car, even while you take shopping or luggage between it and your home
• Keep valuables and shopping out of sight, if they can be seen in your car, they can be stolen.
• Do not leave mobile phones or other valuables in the car - take them with you
• When parking in a public car park - look for one that is well supervised, with restricted entry and exit points, good lighting and security cameras. In multi-storey car parks, choose a widely visible bay.
• Car parks can be a target for thieves and a source of fear for many people. A police scheme - 'Secured Car Parks' - aims to make car parks safer, more attractive places - by setting high crime prevention standards of internal design and layout. Those measuring up are entitled to display the official gold or silver 'Secured Car Parks' emblem. To find out about 'Secured Car Parks' in your area, contact the crime prevention officer at your local police station

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Personal Safety

You can help reduce crime by being discreet with your belongings when you are out and about.

Safety tips and advice

• When out, keep your phone and wallet zipped up and with you, not unattended in a bag, or on a table where they can be grabbed while you are distracted.
• Cover your PIN and do not be distracted when using ATMs or paying by card
• Don’t check your phone as soon as you leave a station
• Don’t text while you’re walking - you will be less aware of what is happening around you
• Stand with your back against a wall when using your phone so nobody can come up behind you
• If you use your phone in public, make it quick
• Register your phone on the Immobilise website (external link) to help police return your property to you and catch thieves
• Install and activate a locating App for your phone and make sure you set a screen lock on your phone

Find examples of tactics used by pickpockets, and further tips on how to avoid being a victim of crime while travelling, on the British Transport Police's travel safely page (external link).

If your phone has just been stolen and the suspect is still in the area, call the police on 999. If your phone has been stolen and the suspect is no longer in the area, report it by calling 101, the non-emergency police number.

Circle: the free London safety app

Circle is the easiest way to stay safe and connected to your friends and family in and around the city. Simply check in at the touch of a button, letting friends know you’re okay or that you need a little help. This handy and free app is packed with other useful resources too, like emergency contact numbers and directions to your closest Safety Spot.

• Download for iPhones (external link)

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Stop and Search: what you need to know

'Stop and Search' is when a police officer stops and detains you to carry out a search if they suspect you are carrying any kind of illegal items (fireworks, weapons, illegal drugs, firearms, stolen property, etc.). See the leaflet below to find out what you need to know if you are stopped by a police officer:

• Stop and Search: what you need to know (PDF, 113KB)

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General safety tips

• Use only your surname and initials in the telephone directory and on the doorplate. That way a stranger won't know if a man or a woman lives there.
• If you see signs of a break-in at your home, like a smashed window or open door, don't go in. Go to a neighbour and call the police.
• If you are selling your home, don't show people around on your own. Ask your estate agent to send a representative with anyone who wants to view your home.
• When you answer the phone, simply say 'hello'. Don't give your number. If the caller claims to have a wrong number, ask him or her to repeat the number required. Never reveal any information about yourself to a stranger and never say you are alone in the house.
• If you receive an abusive or threatening phone call, put the receiver down beside the phone, and walk away. Come back a few minutes later and replace the receiver; don't listen to see if the caller is still there. Don't say anything - an emotional reaction is just what the caller wants. This allows the caller to say what he or she wants to say, without causing distress to you. If the calls continue, tell the police and the operator and keep a record of the date, time and content of each phone call. This may help the authorities trace the caller.

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Our community

Working together, keeping Haringey Safe

There is a lot we can do outside our home and family to prevent crime. We can take action by getting together with other people and working in partnership with the police and the council to reduce crime in our borough. We can help by simply being alert and observant when out and about in our neighbourhoods - or we could apply to join the local Neighbourhood Watch or Special Constabulary. Anyone can play some part, however great or small. Find more details about Haringey Neighbourhood Watch.

• Roads, footpaths and subways: You can help to maintain a safer environment by reporting to the authorities if streets, footpaths and subways are not well lit.
• Home insurance: Does your insurance company offer discounts on home insurance if you are a member of Neighbourhood Watch? If not, try to find an insurance company who does.
• Mobile Phones: Every mobile phone has a unique IMEI number. You can dial*#06# to get yours and make a note of it. If your phone is stolen, you can give the IMEI to the police and your service provider.

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Local police stations

You can call any police station in Haringey by dialling: Tel: 020 8341 1212 or you can email haringeyborough@met.police.uk

• Fishmongers Arms: 287 High Road, N22 8HU
• Hornsey: 98 Tottenham Lane, N8 7EJ
• Tottenham: 398 High Road, N17 9JA

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Report it

• Anti-social behaviour
• Hate crime
• Domestic violence
• Noise problems