Do you feel safe in London?

[Led9519]

Been here 15 years and i’m not sure I feel that safe anymore. We’re in zone 4 suburbia pretty much but Sabina Nessa, Sarah everard, Zara Aleena are all recent and it’s awful.
Then in our town there have been a few stabbings which seems par for the course… it’s not even that rough here. Went to feed the squirrels today and there was a 40 year old and group of kids smoking weed which was odd, my daughter then asked ‘have the baddies gone.’
Was speaking to my female friends about the woods/trails nearby and if they’d walk/run in there alone, the answer was no, not even in the day.
I’m sure statistically it’s just as safe as anywhere really but it’s a shame!

I run from zone 2 into zone 1 after 8pm frequently, once the kids are in bed. I feel very safe, stick to the well lit and busy main roads, always lots of people around, never feel unsafe. Been here nearly 20 years.

Yes, I think it's more of a personal attitude thing than the actual crime stats. I've lived in London for 35+ years, mostly in zone 1, and have never felt unsafe. I'm alert all the time and do question myself when walking in certain areas, but it doesn't stop me doing what I want to do. I have no issues walking in parks or other open spaces on my own. I think with people smoking weed or drunk (not uncommon here) I generally let them get on with it and they pay no attention to me. So it doesn't make me feel unsafe.

I do feel less safe when I visit quieter residential bits of London, zone 3 and further out - less street lighting, less busy on the streets, just rows and rows of houses.

My Dh is from Kent and I’ve felt fine walking alone there but then I haven’t heard too many sad stories about that. Except of course Julia Janes… which again was pretty recent.
Near me there was a sign along a path for witnesses of an assault, a daytime rape and two suicides in the woods. also recently a rape on seastern trains in the afternoon. I guess so many people maybe per 1000 the crime rate is the same as rest of UK but the population quite dense that it feels more frequent.

here’s the news story for it… Sabina Nessa not far from this either.
I never used to feel like this, maybe just the last few years.
maybe it’s having three daughters?

www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/15239919.cctv-image-released-in-connection-with-knifepoint-rape-in-sutcliffe-park-kidbrooke/

www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/british-transport-police-teenager-raped-eltham-dartford-b1005902.html

Yep very safe in C London. Obviously, I take sensible precautions (never walk close to the edge of the platform), cross-body bag, never take calls with phone in view).

So in the London suburbs then… not zones 1 or 2. Agree central feels very safe.

I live very close to where Sarah Everard was kidnapped, and along with the rest of the local community, was incredibly shaken when she went missing.

But I feel safe. I run alone, I walk my dogs in the woods in the commons, I walk back from meeting my friends, I let my DCs play in the parks.

Of course there will be crime. We’ve had our car broken into, we always set the alarm when we go out for any long period.

But even the hysterical local Nexrdoor pages don’t have much more than parking machine scams and teenagers getting in fights. We had a spate of people being robbed for Rolexes but the police did a good job of catching and deterring them.

I wouldn’t want to own a Range Rover around here though, they get nicked daily albeit remote key hacking rather than anyone being assaulted or car jacked

Yes…

Born and bred in SW London. Just took the kids out for a walk and some fresh air a few hours ago and I have 2 under 2. London has always felt safe to me

Yes truly it's the Range Rovers who have to fear in SE London.

It's still very safe for a middle aged woman like me, and her children.

Central London used to be wild. Crackheads whipping down the street and fights. You don't see it now.

My area of east london is fine.....up the road in walthamstow has the gang issues again, 4 lads chopped up with a machete...central london is fine...i know the small pockets to avoid...near the mcdonalds on charing cross road as crack dealers and users hang out there and often something crazy going on that junction.

Yes

I've lived in London for 30 years. My flat was burgled when I lived in Highgate years ago, and my flatmate was mugged close to our flat in Hampstead. And my car's been keyed. But that's pretty much it.

However, for the past 20 years or so I've lived in a fairly rough part of inner London. It's trendy but rough still. Quite a bit of opportunistic crime. Which means keeping your wits about you if you go down certain back streets (day or night) and avoiding certain parks etc at night. Also not walking too close to the cycle superhighway as the local muggers like to whizz past on scooters / electric bikes and grab phones / bags off anyone walking too close. One side of the main road doesn't have cctv so best to avoid that side at night (it's also much darker and quieter anyway). But there are usually people wandering around at 4am, it's never actually quiet. The only time I've ever felt unsafe (as opposed to wary) was during lockdown when I started going for a walk alone at night (I was on work calls all day) and quickly realised that the only other people on the streets at night were not 'good people' and that my chances of something happening were very high.

I don't leave my car anywhere other than secure car parks and I NEVER ever leave my bike (bike theft is rampant near me). There's a lot of drug dealing in my area. There used to be some blatant dealers outside the gates to my building (they'd actually hold the gates open for me when I was driving in from work) but those guys have moved on and been replaced by 2 new guys who are a little further along the road. Obviously this means drug users coming here hence the opportunistic crime. The police are aware.

People get killed all the time (which is horrific) but it doesn’t make me feel unsafe whilst being out and about day to day. Tbh it could just be that I’m very desensitised to these sort of things.

The first time I heard gunshots was when I was in year 5/6. My neighbour who’s family we were really close with got stabbed when I was in year 6. Both times this happened in our block. My neighbours cousin then got stabbed across the road from our house when I was in year 7.

I have many more experiences of things that I’ve seen/heard in my younger years (I’m only 23) but none of those things make me feel unsafe. Again, maybe I’m just desensitised

I've grown up here. Always felt pretty safe. Never been attacked / followed. I'll walk down creey alleyways and through parks at night.

Male violence is not a london problem. It’s everywhere.

I have zero anxiety around kids smoking weed. I do jog and run through wooded bits of parks. Cycle through unlit bike paths at night.

However visiting friends or family in rural areas - the isolation and darkness can be unsettling. And I have seen far more violence and aggression in small towns than in London where, as a pp suggests, people start looking for a fight.

Yes

there might be areas I would avoid late at night but London doesn’t have no go areas

Yes I do. I've never felt unsafe but I'm pretty streetwise.

I live in a lovely part of the Peak District & I live less than a 3 minute walk to the most beautiful woods. There is NO way I would go in there alone.

I’ve been in twice, once there was the strangest guy following behind trying to talk to me constantly which made me feel very uncomfortable as there were no other people about & second time there was a guy behind a tree, calm as anything with his knob out - just stood there, holding it looking at us.. Had my DD with me too.

I would feel comfortable in busy areas only so I could get help if needed.

Yes.

Yes I feel more or less safe. I think you learn how to make yourself safer and party of that is knowing you're never 100% safe anywhere. I can't say I love sending my DDS off on their own and as others have said I much prefer when they go into London proper than when they go to our nearest 'town' high Street.

Yes. I've lived here since I was born, except for a few years at university. Been going out alone since I was 10 (daytime) and 13 (at night).

I find the countryside or small provincial towns much scarier.

I don't like it anymore. X

Where I grew up was a town near Liverpool/Chester. You’d never hear of knife crime, a carrier bag on a bus meant someone forgot their shopping and pretty much only way home was a taxi so no worries about 2am walks from night bus stop.
Assault and rape was so rare I can’t think of any examples (in the news I mean). It was a nice area with an older population though so maybe that’s why. There might be some antisocial kids around but only bored middle class ones!!
Anyway think the UK as a whole pretty safe just not as settled in zone 4 as I was.

No I don’t. And I certainly don’t feel that my teens are safe. Been here 20 years and up till a couple of years ago I would have said a firm yes to your question. It’s gradually become more edgy over the past few years, I regularly hear and see minor aggressions and incidents I didn’t before. Loads of car break ins and theft, children of acquaintances being mugged for phones etc. I want to leave but it’s hard to get back once you’ve gone and I worry my teenagers will be angry and resentful that I took them away.

Yes, I feel pretty safe here. Having said that, I got mugged at knifepoint in the west end about 15 years ago. But then when I was growing up in Ireland our house got burgled several times, and my brothers had bikes taken from them and one got mugged on the quays...I suppose if you live long enough you inevitably fall victim to some crime, wherever you live.

I live in SE London and feel very safe