• Final Police and Crime Plan launched today after largest ever consultation into policing in the capital.
• Public support putting bobbies before buildings – eight in 10 Londoners agree that maintaining police officer numbers should be the priority for spending.
• Plan delivers 2,600 more officers into neighbourhood teams to boost local policing by 2015.
• Almost 100 contact points identified in Safer Neighbourhood Team bases and police stations, in addition to contact points in civic buildings such as libraries and hospitals.
• A dozen of the city’s police buildings earmarked for closure under draft plan will now remain in use to provide enhanced deployment and presence.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has today published his final Police and Crime Plan, which will put more officers on the streets, drive down crime and make policing more efficient by reforming the Met and boosting safer neighbourhood teams.
Developed by the Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC), the plan has been completed following an eight week public consultation which included town hall meetings in every London borough, giving local people the chance to air their views and influence the plan.
The Mayor’s priority for policing in London is to maintain officer numbers and keep local police out on the streets. A poll commissioned by MOPAC as part of the consultation showed eight in 10 Londoners agreed this should be the priority ahead of keeping police buildings open, which are expensive and often under-used. Putting more officers on the streets was the most popular option for making Londoners feel safe, with almost half (49 per cent) making it their top choice.The poll also found strong support for the Met’s reforms to local policing to make the police more visible, accessible and accountable to local people. When asked what would improve the work of the local neighbourhood police teams, Londoners’ top priority (42 per cent) was for “more constables dedicated to neighbourhood policing”, followed by “neighbourhood officers available for longer hours in the day and evening” (31 per cent) – both are key reforms that the new Local Policing Model delivers.
The plan confirms the Mayor’s commitment to maintain police numbers at or around 32,000, and includes a new local policing model that redeploys officers from the back office to the frontline with 1,200 more officers in boroughs and an additional 2,600 officers in Safer Neighbourhood Teams.
The plan heralds long-overdue changes to the Met estate – with almost 500 buildings, costing £203 million a year to run, it is vast and expensive. The Mayor’s estate plans are projected to save £60m in running costs that can help balance the Met budget and protect frontline policing. Previous figures show less than 50 crimes a night are now reported at front counters in police stations.
Following the public consultation, 73 of 136 existing front counters will remain open to the public, with half of these – at least one in each borough - open to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The remaining half will be open at times that suit the needs of local communities and will differ across London.
The Plan will improve access to local police across London’s communities, with the remaining local police estate – despite having fewer buildings – having more that are open to the public. Therefore, in addition to 73 front counters, there will be almost 100 contact points which will be open a minimum of three times each week for the public to talk to their local officers face to face. Most of these will be in Safer Neighbourhood Team bases, from which local officers are already deployed. Other contact points will be located in civic and public buildings, such as libraries and hospitals.
In total there will be almost 200 places in London where the public can visit the police, and the Met has already guaranteed that every victim of crime in London will get a personal visit from the police should they want one. Of 65 Met buildings which had been earmarked for closure under the draft plan, 12 will now remain open and in use by officers.
The Mayor and Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe launched the plan today in Hackney, where officer numbers will go up from 682 in October 2011 to 685 by 2015. Hackney will be served by a 24/7 front counter at Stoke Newington Police Station and five additional contact points throughout the borough.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “Londoners have repeatedly told us that putting more officers on the streets is their top priority, not keeping them hidden behind desks in offices which the public rarely set foot in. By getting our police out onto the streets and into the heart of their communities, we will drive down crime and boost confidence, and at the same time build a Met Police Service which is leaner, more efficient and more effective.”Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said: “I want the Met to be the best police service for Londoners. The changes we""re making will help us to fight crime and patrol the streets.“London""s communities are at the heart of what we do. We will have more officers out on the streets, working daily in local neighbourhoods.”Deputy Mayor for Policing Stephen Greenhalgh said: “Despite having to find significant savings, this plan will allow Londoners to reconnect with the Met, and the Met to reconnect with Londoners.“This has been the most extensive public consultation ever carried out into policing in London and we have listened to what people want, which is to put bobbies before buildings.
“This plan is the only policing model which commits not just to making the Met far more efficient, but also protecting high officer numbers to ensure the best possible service for Londoners.”
Other highlights of the Police and Crime plan include:
• For the first time the Mayor is setting new goals for London’s criminal justice system to cut delays getting to court, to increase compliance with community sentences and to cut youth reoffending – objectives backed by Londoners in the poll conducted for the consultation•Better working with partner organisations to identify crime hotspots and develop smarter solutions to alcohol and drug-related crime including the roll-out of the pilot Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement•Extending existing funding agreements for all four rape crisis centres in London, guaranteeing the continuation of their servicesCreation of a £1m crime prevention fund from which new Safer Neighbourhood Boards in every borough (from 2014) will be able to bid to fund local projects
-Ends-