Andrew Dismore

Dear editor,

 

Although Mayor Boris Johnson claimed he was unaware of this, on 29^th September the Metropolitan Police will decide whether to axe all our local Police Community Support Officers. These cuts would see neighbourhood policing reduced to just a single dedicated police officer for each ward. This is down from 6 officer strong SNT’s in Camden and 9 in Barnet, due to the bigger  size of Barnet  wards.. 

 

There are currently 34 PSCOs in Camden and 54 in Barnet , all of whom face the sack if these plans go ahead.

 

Coming on top of previous reductions in PCSO numbers, with 87 officers (72%) lost from Camden’s streets  and 118 officers (68%)  from Barnet since May 2010, these cuts are being considered without any meaningful consultation with our local communities. They signal the final nail in the coffin for neighbourhood policing.

 

With at least £800m of expected cuts hanging over the Met. on top of the £600 million demanded so far, the police service as we know it will have ceased to exist in ten years’ time, as this scale of cuts is over 40% of their budget, and £8 out of every £10 is spent on police and staff pay.

 

The Conservative Mayor of London and the Conservative Government are clearly failing the people of London in their primary duty to keep the streets safe.

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Andrew Dismore

Labour London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden