Dismore challenges London Mayor over Hampstead Police crowd funding
At Mayor’s Question Time today Andrew Dismore, Labour London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden challenged Mayor Boris Johnson over the proposal from Hampstead, Frognal and Fitzjohns residents to ‘crowd source’ their own extra ward police officers, in light of the cuts to their Safer Neighbourhood Teams.
Dismore challenges Johnson over crowd funded police in Hampstead from Andrew Dismore on Vimeo.
Mr Dismore told the Mayor:
‘Residents in Hampstead, where there have been a number of particularly vicious and terrifying robberies, want to ‘crowd source’ 3 extra police officers for their area on the basis of a BOGOF deal. Do you agree with the Camden Borough Commander, that it would not set a good precedent and the Met should not entertain it; or with Zac Goldsmith, who says he has no objection to the idea?
‘Doesn’t this show that even in relatively affluent areas, people have little confidence in the strength of the police as a result of your cuts to Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNTs) and police station closures , to the extent they are prepared to go to such lengths to raise the money to restore their SNT to its original numbers?
After MQT, Mr Dismore added:
‘The Mayor’s response to the very real fears of Hampstead residents was woefully inadequate. For him to duck and dive and say that he wants the police to be properly funded is just not good enough, we all want that. To say crime is coming down in the face of the frequent reports in the Ham and High and Camden New Journal shows how out of touch he is. On the one hand the Mayor says he will look at the proposals, but on the other won’t say he’d overrule the Borough Commander. He is all over the place on the issue.
‘The root cause of the residents’ understandable concerns arises from a series of violent robberies, at a time when their original SNT of 6 officers has been cut to just 2 and Hampstead Police Station was closed, as a result of the Conservative Mayor and Government’s dangerous cuts.
‘With the Met. now facing devastating further Conservative cuts of £1 billion, and even the Commissioner now speaking out to predict the loss of up to 8,000 police officers, along with a series of other front line cuts including the end of PCSOs and local borough based commands, the ‘thin blue line’ is being stretched beyond breaking point.
‘It’s time the Mayor backed up the Commissioner, and spoke out in Parliament to demand an end to the cuts. But it seems he is now more concerned about his future career in the Conservative Party than his role as London Mayor to do so, so Londoners should not hold their breath in waiting for the support of the Mayor over the scale of the destruction of the Met. by his Government.’
reports of some recent violent attacks
ends
