Richmond residents have been told not to employ private security contractors for any public work.

It comes after a man tweeted a 53 second video showing two men in hi-viz jackets dragging a person with an electric scooter by the arm across the road in George Street.

Ellie Cem Cohen posted: "Yesterday 2 patrolling guys, don't know who they are, terrorised entire high street.

"Innocent residents were harassed.

"Those who wanted to videotape, were hit. can you explain what is going on? Before we have a #GeorgeFloyd incident here!"

He asked this of Richmond Council leader Gareth Roberts and the main council Twitter account.

In response, Mr Roberts penned a joint letter with South West London's borough commander Sally Benatar.

The letter was sent to all Richmond Green residents.

Read it in full

Chief Superintendent Sally Benatar and I want to reiterate Richmond Council and the police's commitment to combatting anti-social behaviour in the Richmond area.

Action has been taken, including increasing police capacity and operations to target criminality, stepping up the borough's Park Guard operations, particularly over the weekends and working with businesses to open up their public toilets to combat unacceptable problems with defecation and urination.

I hope that you agree that these measures have resulted in improvement in behaviours in the area in the last few weeks.

However, we are aware that a number of residents in the Richmond Green area have employed private security companies or organised patrols to provide additional security for themselves on their premises. Both the council and police view this development with concern.

Recently there have been a number of serious incidents, allegedly involving these members of staff - either on the green itself, or in the town centre while they are 'patrolling'.

Neither the council nor the police can condone individuals or private companies operating within the margins of the law to act as 'security' in Richmond particularly when those actions fall outside of what is legally permitted and are crimes.

To ensure the safety of all we would like to remind residents who employ the services of these companies that:

- private security contractors must remain on your private property or immediate curtilage

- private security contractors are NOT permitted to impersonate the police or claim they are acting on behalf of the council. Only the police have the power of arrest and the police and council emphatically do not endorse any other self-appointed individuals or group who claim to do so.

To ensure that there are no further incidents, we ask anyone who is acting in a personal capacity or who has contracts with these companies to reiterate these important points to their contractors.

We would also strongly advise those who have entered into such contracts to ensure that they are aware of their personal legal obligations with regards to these issues.

The position taken within this letter has the full support of all three ward councillors for South Richmond.

We know that many of you are concerned about the summer months ahead. We are committed to working with you to ensure that Richmond is safe and welcoming to all residents and visitors. Therefore, your understanding and support is needed in this area.

If you contract a private security company and would like to discuss any of these issues further, please contact [email protected]

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