Mayor launches ‘buy one get one free’ scheme to fund more police officers

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has announced a unique ‘buy one get one free’ scheme to recruit more police officers in collaboration with local councils.

For every new police officer a borough pays for, the Mayor will ‘match fund’ the post and recruit another officer. This means boroughs will effectively be given two police officers for the price of one – a huge boost to the numbers of uniformed officers patrolling local streets.

The boroughs will be able to use the new posts to address councils specific local crime concerns – from more cops tackling night time anti-social behaviour, to extra officers targeting burglary or serious youth violence.

The scheme is part of a total extra funding package for the Met of £42 million the Mayor has saved from reserves and prioritised for additional police funding in the capital.

The Mayor Boris Johnson said: “This ingenious “buy one get one free” scheme will boost more police officers in every corner of our city. Tackling crime remains my greatest priority and I implore boroughs to grab this opportunity to secure more police and hit local crime hard. As councils across London are balancing their budgets, this scheme will give them even more crime fighting capability. “

Each borough has received a letter inviting them to get involved with the new scheme and many have already expressed an interest in participating.

Leader of Redbridge Council Keith Prince said: “Crime is the number one concern of most people in the capital. Even in Redbridge where crime is relatively low, anti social behaviour can ruin people’s lives. This scheme will make a real difference to the safety and well being of our residents. The extra police presence will mean we can really target crime hot spots.”

The scheme will start on 1 April 2011 and the Mayor is encouraging boroughs to take up the offer as soon as possible, to get the maximum value for their local residents.

Earlier this month the Mayor announced an additional £42m for police funding, making the Met Police the only force in the country to hire and increase its number of uniformed police officers. The Mayor’s plans will also protect safer neighbourhood teams in every borough and put an additional fully warranted 413 police officers onto the transport network.