Communities at risk as capital's policing crisis grows

A future Labour government would scrap costly Police and Crime Commissioners and use the £50 million set aside to stage elections next year to protect the 1,100 police officers due to be cut in 2016.

The pledge to safeguard numbers of police came as new statistics compiled by the House of Commons Library showed that a further 5,400 police officers could be cut in London under Tory spending plans for the next government.

Criticising government plans, Neil Coyle Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Bermondsey and Old Southwark said: “Local residents are rightly concerned about the rise of serious crimes in Southwark. Under this Tory and Lib Dem coalition government, in which Simon Hughes served as Justice Minister, we have seen broken promises and big cuts made to the police service, putting the safety of our community at risk. Residents can’t afford to lose any more police officers or PCSOs (Police Community Support Officers), given the surge in violent crime.’

In the last 5 years, the Metropolitan Police have cut just under 2,000 police officers in London. Since 2010 the numbers of police officers in Southwark have declined by 20 percent and the numbers of PCSOs by 70. Rotherhithe Police Station has been closed and front counter services in Peckham and Southwark Police Stations have been cut back. Nearly 200 police officers in Southwark as well as over 100 PCSOs have been lost over the last 4 years; equivalent to cuts of at least 9 police officers on average in each of the wards.

The loss of another 5,400 officers in London would have a devastating impact on neighbourhood policing in the capital and comes against a backdrop of rising serious crime in the capital.

In 2014, reports of violence against the person rose by 28.2 percent, rape by 22 percent, domestic violence by 21 percent, Islamophobia by 25 percent and anti-Semitism hate crime by a staggering 155 percent. The threat from terrorism has been raised to severe placing even more pressure on London’s police.

Councillor Coyle said: “A future Labour government will put visible neighbourhood policing back in its rightful place – at the heart of the community. Only Labour has set out clear plans to find the funding to stop a further 1,100 police officers being cut next year.”

A future Labour government would scrap costly Police and Crime Commissioners, and use the £50 million set aside to stage elections next year to protect the 1,100 police officers due to be cut in 2016. The pledge to safeguard numbers of police came as new statistics compiled by the House of Commons Library showed that a further 5,400 police officers could be cut in London under Tory spending plans for the next government.

Criticising government plans, Neil Coyle Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Bermondsey and Old Southwark said: “Local residents are rightly concerned about the rise of serious crimes in Southwark. Under this Tory and Lib Dem coalition government, in which Simon Hughes served as Justice Minister, we have seen broken promises and big cuts made to the police service, putting the safety of our community at risk. Residents can’t afford to lose any more police officers or PCSOs (Police Community Support Officers), given the surge in violent crime.’

In the last 5 years, the Metropolitan Police have cut just under 2,000 police officers in London. Since 2010 the numbers of police officers in Southwark have declined by 20 percent and the numbers of PCSOs by 70. Rotherhithe Police Station has been closed and front counter services in Peckham and Southwark Police Stations have been cut back. Nearly 200 police officers in Southwark as well as over 100 PCSOs have been lost over the last 4 years; equivalent to cuts of at least 9 police officers on average in each of the wards.

The loss of another 5,400 officers in London would have a devastating impact on neighbourhood policing in the capital and comes against a backdrop of rising serious crime in the capital.

In 2014, reports of violence against the person rose by 28.2 percent, rape by 22 percent, domestic violence by 21 percent, Islamophobia by 25 percent and anti-Semitism hate crime by a staggering 155 percent. The threat from terrorism has been raised to severe placing even more pressure on London’s police.

Councillor Coyle said: “A future Labour government will put visible neighbourhood policing back in its rightful place – at the heart of the community. Only Labour has set out clear plans to find the funding to stop a further 1,100 police officers being cut next year.”