News from Joanne McCartney AM - Met’s neighbourhood policing review threatens Mayor’s promise

10 JUNE 2011

Labour London Assembly Member Joanne McCartney has today expressed her alarm at the Metropolitan Police’s plans that threaten to reduce policing in Safer Neighbourhood Teams.

While the Mayor of London had pledged that each ward will retain two PCs and three PCSOs, the Metropolitan Police’s review of Safer Neighbourhood police teams means that wards could be reduced to just two uniformed officers while police are transferred to other wards for “temporary periods”.  The Met have not revealed what the maximum ‘temporary’ period will be, details of which will be in their ‘Abstraction Policy’ which has not yet been made public. 

Labour London Assembly member, Joanne McCartney said:

“We are very concerned about these plans.  The Mayor’s pledge of retaining five uniformed officers per ward is at risk with wards now only being guaranteed one PC and one PCSO.  The Met say these are for “temporary periods”, yet have not yet revealed what these “temporary periods” will be.  What if officers are transferred for weeks or even months?”

The changes are happening simultaneously with the Met’s plans to halve the amount of sergeants dedicated to neighbourhood policing down to 300.  Instead of each local ward having its own sergeant, the plans are to share one with the ward next door. 

Joanne continued: “Despite the Mayor’s promises, it is alarming that we could be left with just two uniformed officers in some wards for unknown periods of time. This is on top of falling police numbers – just this week, the Met’s Deputy Commissioner Tim Godwin was unable to rule out further cuts to police numbers in London”

“We will be raising questions to the Mayor and Commissioner about these deeply worrying plans and asking the Mayor to ensure his pledge of five uniformed officers in every ward is maintained.  Londoners want to be reassured about what policing support they will be getting in their neighbourhoods.  Safer Neighbourhood Policing was the Met’s exemplar scheme and we cannot allow it to be stripped back.”

 

Ends

 

Notes 

  1. Joanne McCartney is the Labour lead Member for Policing and the London Assembly member for Enfield and Haringey.
  2. ‘Proposals arising from the review of Safer Neighbourhoods’ is a report tabled at the MPA’s Strategic and Operational Policing Committee. http://www.mpa.gov.uk/committees/sop/2011/0616/

For more information please contact Nina Dawson on 020 7983 4364.