Merton (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Two Merton police stations, Wimbledon and Mitcham, have been closed as part of the Met Police’s latest cost-cutting measures amid wider London restructuring.
Ten London police stations, including Wimbledon and Mitcham in Merton, will be permanently closed as part of the most recent cost-cutting measures implemented by the Metropolitan Police in an effort to reduce spending by £260 million.
The changes are in violation of London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s election vow, which he made last year to have a police station desk open around-the-clock in each of the city’s 32 boroughs. Currently, the Met has operations in Lewisham and at Charing Cross, which is the same police station that the police watchdog is investigating ten of its officers.
The City of London Police, who effectively assess Bishopsgate, also maintains a front desk that is open every hour of the day.
Croydon is another of 25 stations that provides a front desk which is open every hour. However, it will soon provide ‘extended hours’ which are 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. on weekends and 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. on weekdays. Others are also swapping to this model.
In total, there will be 27 front counters instead of 37 where the public can interact with officers. At first, the Met had intended to permanently reduce the number of front counters that were open to the public to 19.
Boris Johnson, the mayor at the time, closed 65 of London’s almost 140 front counters in 2013. Another 38 were closed in 2017 under Mayor Khan.
In August, Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist told the London Assembly,
“This essentially comes down to us having to choose between keeping officers on London’s streets, where they can respond to the public, or retaining the current position on all front counters, which may be a symbolic point of access but are largely underutilised, especially overnight.”
The Met says that it has revised its proposals “after listening to feedback from Londoners”. Charing Cross and Lewisham, it says, are its “busiest sites”.
By that logic, the Met must consider Merton a low-crime area, as it is closing both of that borough’s remaining, fully functioning stations.
“The new model balances the savings with the desire for local access with the need to focus stretched resources on operational policing,”
the Met said last night.
“The location of front counters will now be better aligned with the location of custody suites and demand.”
Last night, AC Twist said:
“The Met is having to shrink to live within its means and as the public would expect, we are targeting our resources on a narrower set of their priorities to make London safer.
Londoners tell us they want more visible and responsive policing on the capital’s streets and that is exactly what we are going to deliver.
But we have also listened to their views during an extensive engagement process and, while our funding gap means we must reduce provision, we will keep more front counters open across London.”
According to the Met, the adjustments will “ensure officers and staff are in the roles where they are best placed to drive down crime” by freeing up over 3,000 hours of police officer time each month.
The Met said:
“Londoners will continue to be able to book appointments to see an officer and report a crime, access video appointments, phone 999 and 101, report online and contact their local ward officers.”
They stated that in order “to minimize the impact,” phones will be placed outside of closed front counters.
300 PCSOs and 300 officers were invested in last year, according to the Met, while an additional 400 officers were assigned to “priority neighbourhood posts to ensure greater visibility of officers in our communities.”
What specific community safety issue did residents raise regarding the closure of police stations?
For many residents, especially vulnerable groups such as victims of domestic abuse and violence, being able to engage personally and face-to-face at police counters to report alleged crimes is essential.
Closures may also remove local accessibility to policing, which may reduce public confidence and trust in the police—both of which are extremely important to prevent crime in local communities.
Local politicians, including Merton council and MPs, noted that residents may feel less safe due to the closures, including existing concerns about crime rising in some areas of the borough.
There are also concerns regarding slow response times because of the police station closures; however, authorities indicate that response times will not change because there still be an officer presence and patrols.
