The notion of a Neighbourhood Watch for this area, such as is being planned for Manor Park Village (see previous post) is only a minimum that could be considered. There's an even bigger message here: EVERYBODY, DON'T MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS ANYMORE. STICK YOUR NOSE INTO EVERYTHING! Because it is the only way to cut down, fight, or deter crime. Don't think if you've just moved to London that you can exist anonymously here, commuting to work by day and returning home at night to find everything hunky dory, and keeping entirely to yourself.
It is impossible to live safely anywhere in Britain nowadays without investing some effort into your neighbours and your local community. It used to be that young adults could depend on local housewives and retired people to keep an eye on things during the daytime, but this is no longer possible. Housewives are a thing of the past. Retired people are often frail, or they are exhausted by the lack of support they receive from the neighbours, the community, the society, and the authorities. Additionally, there are some residents from other cultures, who are not assimilating into the neighbourhood or into British culture, which effectively makes them even MORE insular than the proverbial Englishman ever used to be.
Don't let anyone else ignore things and then blame the police when a crime is committed. Everybody has to keep their eyes open and talk to all their neighbours, or make all their neighbours talk. If you're a home owner, your property value really, really does depend on these simple deeds. If you're a tenant, you should be telling your landlord to get involved, or warn him that the rents might drop! And the quality of life in the neighbourhood affects everybody....