Unfortunately it will take much more than common sense for boats to be safe on the towpath at Tottenham at the moment.
So far there has been two attempts to squat on boats , 8 boats i know of have been burgled, 6 with live aboard boaters, and a van in the car park . The gang is hanging around the towpath for hours a day taking whatever opportunity they can. I have seen them going along the towpath at all times of day and night casing the boats, they are known to kick the boat to see if it is occupied ( so don't assume it is the wind).
Last weekend two broke into a boat at Springfield and one was caught trying to dismantle the boiler but it does not seem to have stopped them 2 days later the rest of the gang returned.
The police i would not say have been brilliant,for the amount of trouble i would have expected to see more patrols along the towpath. They have not even bothered to re contact a witness (who removed them from our boat) for an ID parade they were supposed to be setting up, hardly surprising some boaters are now tooling up!