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Residents are invited to a free debate with a panel of local experts on how to reduce crime and help make Hackney safer.

The evening event, which will be held at the City Academy, in Homerton, on Tuesday 22 March, will give people who live, work or study in the borough the chance to share their views, and discuss the challenges of working together to keep the borough safe in the coming years.

The panel will include:

• Jennette Arnold, London Assembly Member for Hackney, Islington and Waltham Forest
• Dr Sabir Bham, Founder/Director of Salaam Peace, an award-winning local organisation which uses sports, media and education initiatives as a way of bringing people together from diverse backgrounds
• Emeka Egbuonu, author, lecturer, keynote speaker and volunteer youth worker at the Crib Youth Project. He grew up in Hackney.
• Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Laurence, Borough Commander of Hackney
• Cllr Sophie Linden, Deputy Mayor, with lead responsibility for Crime and Community Safety
• Tunde Okewale, one of the UK’s most prominent young barristers who grew up in Hackney. He was a member of the Commission that looked into the 2011 riots

The debate, called Hackney: A Safer Place for Everyone, will be themed around three broad areas:

• Violence and vulnerability (including gangs and serious youth violence; domestic abuse; child sexual exploitation; and Prevent)
• The night-time economy, and associated crime and criminal behaviour
• Street issues (including street drinking and prostitution)

The event, hosted by the Hackney Safer Neighbourhood Board in partnership with Hackney Council and the Met Police, is open to everyone in Hackney; places can be booked here.

Arrival and registration is from 6.30pm for a 7pm start.