Andrew Dismore

Following Friday’s revelation that Boris Johnson’s policing figures were not actual figures but had been ‘adjusted’, local Labour Assembly Member Andrew Dismore  has called into question the accuracy of the information given to residents on the number of police officers in Camden and Barnet

Andrew Dismore AM is today backing calls for the UK Statistics Authority’s opinion as to whether the figures currently being used by the Mayor for his London-wide consultation on the future of the Metropolitan Police are accurate. Currently, information on the number of police officers is made publicly available through the Mayor’s London Datastore but this information differs from that being used by the Mayor in his public consultation.

London Assembly Labour Policing spokesperson Joanne McCartney, has today written to the UK Statistics Authority seeking clarification.

The figures published by the Mayor on his website and separately in the Policing Consultation for Camden:

• The Mayor says police strength was 749 in 2011
• The Mayor’s London Datastore says police strength was 796 in 2011
• The Mayor forecasts police strength will increase by 2 in 2015
• The Mayor’s London Datastore forecasts police strength will decrease by 47 in 2015

The figures published by the Mayor on his website and separately in the Policing Consultation for Barnet :

• The Mayor says police strength was 523 in 2011
• The Mayor’s London Datastore says police strength was 554 in 2011
• The Mayor forecasts police strength will increase by 41 in 2015
• The Mayor’s London Datastore forecasts police strength will increase by 10 in 2015

Local Labour London Assembly Member Andrew Dismore said:

 

We know that in Camden there were 884 police officers in May 2010 and the Mayor’s projected number for 2015 is 751, which shows there will be a net loss of 133 officers over the five years of the Coalition government- but even on the rigged arbitrary comparator date the Mayor has chosen , his figures do not even show the small rise of 2 officers he is claiming: his own official statistics show a decrease of 47 officers.

“And  in Barnet there were 595 police officers in May 2010 and  with the Mayor’s projected number for 2015 of  564, this  shows there will be a net loss of 34 officers over the five years of the Coalition government, but even on the Mayor’s  rigged arbitrary comparator date, his figures do not support  the rise he is claiming.

2,208 police officers have been lost already across London.

“It now appears Boris’s plans for the future of the Metropolitan Police are based on dodgy stats. Boris either knows these figures are wrong or is deliberately misleading the public.

“If the Mayor cannot explain where his figures have come from then what confidence can Londoners, have in his future plans? I am backing calls for the UK Statistics Authority to investigate so we can get to the bottom of this.”