Under questioning by the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee the Met Police Commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, confirmed that plans to scrap all of the capital’s Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), had been dropped and that the 649 PCSOs posts attached to neighbourhood teams would be “guaranteed" with no PCSOs facing redundancy.
The confirmation from the Commissioner came after he was quizzed on the issue by Labour’s London Assembly Policing Spokesperson Joanne McCartney AM during a session of the Police and Crime Committee on Thursday (17th December), the day after the Mayor was questioned by Ms McCartney on the issue.
The Metropolitan Police had been due to consider plans to axe all of the capital’s PCSOs at its Management Board meeting on the 29th September but had pushed back the final decision until December after significant opposition.
The cuts could have seen neighbourhood policing teams in Enfield reduced to just a single police officer for each ward, despite having six officers (3 PCSOs, 2 PCs and a sergeant) only 3 years ago.
There are currently 1099 neighbourhood PCSOs in the capital, including 41 in Enfield.
Labour London Assembly Member for Enfield and Haringey, Joanne McCartney said:
“PCSOs are the eyes and ears of the police, they play an incredibly important intelligence gathering role and scrapping them entirely would have been an absolute disaster.
"PCSOs have faced months of uncertainty as a result of the Government's threatened funding cuts. I am glad our campaign has helped to prevent these cuts and reassure PCSOs that their role is highly valued.
"There is little doubt scrapping PCSOs would have resulted in the end of neighbourhood policing as we know it.”
Notes to editors
Notes
- Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan Howe’s comments were made at today’s Police and Crime Committee. A webcast of the meeting is available here. The comments are made approximately 40 minutes in.
- Asked whether he could retain 1 PC and 1PCSO neighbourhood policing teams, Sir Hogan Howe said “yes, as a minimum.” He went on to say there was a “definite possibility to better that.” He said he hoped to make announcements in January or February 2016. He later stated that “I think there is 649 in the neighbourhood ... those are the ones we can now guarantee the future of…” and that no PCSOs would face redundancy.
- The Metropolitan Police Management Board was due to consider the following options on the future of PCSOs in December:
- Retain 629 dedicated ward PCSO posts.
- Remove all Neighbourhood PCSO posts.
- According to the Met Datastore there were 41 PCSOs assigned to Enfield in October 2015 (the latest date available).
- Joanne McCartney AM is the London Assembly Member for Enfield and Haringey.