Lewisham Community Police Consultative Group

Lewisham Community Police Consultative Group (LCPCG) is an independent community forum where communities can discuss policing, community safety and related issues.

LCPCG is not part of the police. If you need to contact the police or report a crime, telephone 999 in an emergency or 101 for non-emergencies.

Lewisham Police and the Council are key partners within the group and give regular updates at LCPCG public meetings. Both are also closely involved in the running of the group, providing expertise and advice to the Strategy Group.  Although this webpage is kindly provided by the council, the LCPCG is an autonomous organisation and is independent from the police and the local authority.  

Public meetings

Details and papers for upcoming LCPCG meetings and an archive of past meetings can be found via this link.

The group hold at least five public meetings during the year including their AGM in March. Subjects covered at recent meetings include Victim Support, Stop and Search, Restorative Justice, Investigations for Homicide, Young Citizens and the 10,000 Hands Making Lewisham City Safe project, Missing persons, Rape reporting, Tackling Gang Culture, and more. The Lewisham Police Borough Commander and the Head of the Crime Reduction Service will also provide updates, and members of the group are able to ask questions and to raise issues around policing and crime reduction which are affecting their communities. Other meetings and conferences agreed by the group are published through the coordinator.  

Get involved with the LCPCG

The LCPCG welcomes membership from any formally constituted group or organisation that is based in or whose membership covers the borough of Lewisham. We are happy to come and speak about our work to any interested parties. We actively encourage membership from:

• schools
• youth organisations
• marginalised and vulnerable groups
• Safer Neighbourhood ward panels
• Neighbourhood Watch groups.

Membership application forms can be downloaded below or obtained from the LCPCG Co-ordinator. Once submitted they will be reviewed by our Strategy Group and then be submitted to the LCPCG members for approval at the next available LCPCG public meeting.

Statutory members of the group include officers from the local authority, probation service, police officers, crown prosecution, up to five borough councillors and the three local MPs. 

Individuals can join our mailing list by signing up at a meeting or emailing the LCPCG Co-ordinator (details below) to receive regular updates as well as newsletters and details of meetings. Our terms of reference do not allow individuals to become formal members of the LCPCG, however, the LCPCG meetings are open to all residents of the borough, members of the public and the press.

In between public meetings and newsletters the LCPCG send out regular emails, and you can sign up via cpcg@lewisham.gov.uk. Our Twitter account is very popular @LewishamCPCG (you don't need to join Twitter to view it) and will help you to keep up with news on policing, safety and crime prevention in Lewisham, as well as LCPCG meetings, consultations and other opportunities to make your views count. We also have a Facebook group and produce occasional newsletters - see below. 

LCPCG sub-groups

The LCPCG has three sub-groups

• a Strategy group
• a Stop and Search scrutiny group 
• a Ward Panel Forum - for Chairs and Vice Chairs of Safer Neighbourhood Ward panels.

Strategy group

This committee plans and oversees the work of the consultative group and is made up of the Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer and up to six Community members, who are elected at the LCPCG AGMs, as well as Senior Police and Council Officers.   

Strategy group members represent Lewisham on London wide bodies and the Safer Lewisham Partnership, which is the borough’s Community Safety Partnership. The LCPCG Chair and Vice Chair also have monthly meetings with the Borough Commander and the Head of Lewisham Council’s Crime Reduction Service. 

Current membership of Strategy group

Ward Panel Forum

Every ward in Lewisham has a dedicated team of police, the Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) and also a panel of local volunteers who advise them. The Safer Neighbourhood Ward Panels are made up of people who work, live or study on the Ward and they advise the SNT on local needs and set the SNTs policing priorities.  

The LCPCG run the Ward Panel Forum three times yearly as an opportunity for panels to network, discuss different approaches used and share good practice. It is also an opportunity to become more informed about cross ward and pan-London issues, which might not come to their panel meetings in the normal way. 

The meetings are attended by the Chief Inspector for Safer Neighbourhood Policing, so panels have a direct route to raise issues. The forum elects its own Chair who also is a full Strategy Group member as well as a Vice Chair.  

Stop and Search Scrutiny Group

This group is made up of representatives from the community, from youth organisations, the Police and relevant Council teams as well as from LCPCG's Strategy Group. It elects its own Chair and Vice Chair, currently Emmanuel Imuere and Sadiki Harris, and the Chair is a full member of the Strategy group. In the past the group has won awards for its work.

The group meets regularly to monitor and discuss how the Police carry out Stop and Search and Stop and Account. Statistics are provided by the police. The role of the group is to call the police to account for any disproportionality and to monitor the implementation of Recommendation 61 of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry. Recommendation 61 covers police keeping records of Stop and Searches, including reasons for the stop and the outcome - also that a copy of the record should be given to the person stopped.

In the last year the Stop and Search group have developed a website www.lewishamstopandsearch.co.uk, run workshops at a youth conference attended by all of Lewisham's Secondary Schools, and also launched their new website at a popular community event in the New Cross Moonshot Centre, attended by the IPCC. They are very strongly committed to working directly with the local community.

Please follow this link for further information on Stop and Search in London from the Metropolitan Police Service.

Hate Crime Working Party

LCPCG is currently developing a Hate Crime working party which seeks to build a collaborative approach between local authority, police and community partners. They are interested in all aspects of Hate Crime in Lewisham, and welcome any interest from new people.  Please contact either LCPCG or Second Wave if you are interested in getting involved.

LCPCG reports and other reference documents​