New figures have today shown that the Metropolitan Police has lost over 3,000 officers since May 2010, there are now 30,085 PCs in London. In Westminster 455 police officers have been lost – a drop of 28%.  The Mayor promised he would maintain police numbers ‘at or around 32,000’. Over the same period the Met has also lost 2,265 Police Community Support Officers. In Westminster 290 PCSOs have been lost – 77% of the total. Deputy mayor for policing Stephen Greenhalgh said last year that it would be a “doomsday scenario” for policing if the figure dipped below 31,000. 

Murad Qureshi AM, Labour London wide Assembly Member is calling on the Mayor to reverse his cuts to front line policing and secure a better deal from central government for Londoners. Next week the Mayor will decide whether he will adopt proposed amendments to his budget for 2014/15. The amendment would immediately see 1,185 PCSOs and an extra 250 Safer Transport Team Police Officers recruited using the Mayor’s existing budget to help plug the gap caused by cuts to the policing budget by the Mayor and central government. 

Murad Qureshi AM, said:

“On Boris Johnson’s watch we’ve seen the erosion of policing in London and in our borough, when he stood for re-election he promised to maintain numbers at 32,000 but he has failed to do this. According to his own figures he has cut police officer numbers by over 3,000 and halved PCSOs, which made up the bulk of our local safer neighbourhood teams. In our area we’ve lost 455 police officers and 290 PCSOs. 

“The Met Police is now the third least visible on the streets compared to other areas of the country. We need a properly resourced police service to tackle crime and provide a much better service to victims. I hope next week he will adopt my budget amendment and start to properly resource our local police teams. The government have cut the policing budget by 20%, the Mayor needs to stand up for Londoners and get a better deal for our city from his colleagues in government.” 

Ends 

Notes 

1. Murad Qureshi AM is a  Labour London wide Assembly Member
2. The figures quoted above are for December 2013 which are the latest available and are published on the Mayor’s own London Datastore website, see: http://data.london.gov.uk/dashboard-summary/crime 
3. The graph below shows Met police officer numbers from May 2010 to December 2013. 
4. Met third least visible force in the country Value for Money Profiles, HMIC, November 2013, p 43   http://www.hmic.gov.uk/media/metropolitan-value-for-money-profile-2013.pdf 
5. In January 2012 the Mayor of London told the London Assembly:

“I want to repeat that under this Mayoralty there will be no cuts in the police and we will keep police numbers at a safe level. I believe, and I have said many times in this horseshoe, that safe level is around 32,000 or more.” See page 3: http://www.london.gov.uk/moderngov/documents/b5860/Minutes%20-%20Appendices%201-3%20-%20Transcripts%20Wednesday%2025-Jan-2012%2010.00%20London%20Assembly%20Mayors%20Questi.pdf?T=9 

1. Stephen Greenhalgh said that numbers falling under 31,000 would be a “Doomsday scenario” for London.
2. (Stephen Greenhalgh, Home Affairs Select Committee, 4th September 2012)