Expect to see far fewer police stations in London – instead, ‘contact points’ will be in high street supermarkets, or co-located with other public services in council buildings or libraries and, maybe, the Post Office. Mayor of London Boris Johnson is in talks with the Post Office to see how the Met Police might use some of their high street branches to set up these access points, with a pilot earmarked to begin this summer.
According to the Mayor’s Office, this means that overall the number of contact points where Londoners can access the police will increase. The reason: the official focus on street policing and prioritise keeping police numbers high means it will be necessary to sell many of the under-used and outmoded buildings in the Met estate. With almost 500 buildings, costing £203m a year to run, the estate is described as vast and expensive.
The draft Met Estates Strategy, published tin January alongside the draft Police and Crime Plan, proposes a reduction in the size of the estate from 900,000 sq metres to 600,000 sq metres. To achieve that aim the Met plans to sell its’ New Scotland Yard head offices and around 200 of its least used buildings, most of which have no public access. Alongside reductions in civilian staff and savings in IT and back office, the estate plans are projected to save £60m in running costs.
The estate includes 136 front counters open to the public. Most visits take place at around half of these counters. Across the whole of London, less than 50 crimes a night are now reported at front counters in police stations. Some 65 of the least used front counters are proposed for closure, while 71 will remain open
Boris Johnson said: “Putting more officers on the streets is key to driving down crime and boosting public confidence in the police and that is why it is at the heart of our plans for policing in the capital. In the current economic climate there is no denying that tough decisions will have to be made but policing in the capital is changing and we must change with it by creating a police force that is ready to tackle the issues that matter most to Londoners.”
Met Assistant Commissioner Simon Byrne said: “We are determined to be the best police force for London – that’s why we need to change. We will be putting more officers into local policing across the capital and devoting more to our Safer Neighbourhoods Teams. We are changing the emphasis of what we do. Neighbourhood policing will be the foundation of the service we provide. We will have an Inspector in every neighbourhood area who is held locally accountable to drive down crime and boost the number of criminals we arrest.”
And Deputy Mayor for Policing Stephen Greenhalgh said: “The changes proposed by the Mayor will give London the police force it needs for the twenty-first century and reconnect Londoners with the first public service. By putting bobbies before buildings and being smarter about how we use budgets we can not only create a police force to be proud of but one that we can afford. Over the next eight weeks we’ll be travelling to every borough in London listening to what people have to say. These views will inform our final plan and help shape the future of policing in London so I’d urge people to get involved.”
For Labour, the London Assembly member and police and crime spokesperson Joanne McCartney said: “Significant areas of London are going to be left with little or no 24-hour police station cover. If people want to report serious crimes, like rape, in person they will be forced to travel even further – making it harder to report crime. The Police are a service and should deliver a certain level to Londoners.
“Boris Johnson has repeatedly broken his promises on police stations and front counters, how can we believe that he will keep his word this time? Closing nearly half of London’s police stations is further evidence that the Mayor and government are cutting too far, too fast and are hitting the front line. This week we uncovered that 22 of London’s 32 boroughs will be left with fewer police officers under Boris’s plans than they had in 2010. Combined with the closure of 65 police stations and front counters and the loss of nearly half of London’s PCSOs, this will lead to a smaller police presence on our streets. We doubt the Mayor can keep his election promises, as HMIC reported last year police visibility is down and this trend will continue. Boris Johnson has failed to get a good deal for London from government and now Londoners are paying the price.”
