Andrew Dismore

Andrew Dismore, Labour parliamentary candidate for Hendon challenged Mayor Boris Johnson over the cuts to the Metropolitan Police at Mayor’s Question Time. https://vimeo.com/123289650

Mr Dismore asked the Mayor about police numbers in Barnet, but he refused to answer a series of questions about the performance of the police in Barnet, which Mr Dismore said was suffering due to the Mayor’s cuts.

Mr Dismore said:

‘ In Barnet we now have 69 officers fewer than in 2010, a cut of 11%, and 112 PCSOs fewer, a cut of 65%.

‘We don’t even get to keep the ones we have left either- in the last 6 months of last year, on average our officers were taken away to work in other boroughs for no fewer than an average of 98 officer shifts per week.

‘With just 539 officers to start with, and with the shift pattern, training needs , leave and so on, on average only a fifth of officers are on duty at any one time , it can be seen the thin blue line is stretched to breaking point.

‘In the first half of February, emergency response calls achieved a performance of just 80.7% against the target that they should be answered in 15 minutes.

‘Year on year crime is up overall in Barnet by 1.5% on the police’s own figures, with violent crime up 36% , criminal damage up 9.1% and racist and religious hate crime up 47.3%.

‘Only 3% of burglaries result in a prosecution, despite an independent report by RAC Insurance last year, which showed Barnet to be the most burgled borough in London.

‘The Mayor and the Conservative Government bear the responsibility for the cuts to the police so far, and if they get back on 7^th May, there will be even worse cuts to come.

‘The Mayor must accept he is to blame  for this state of affairs and not keep refusing to answer questions about his failure to ensure Barnet has the police officers we need.’