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Met: Deputy Mayor Squares Up To Reorganisation
This deputy mayor for policing has even less of a clue on how London is policed than his predecessor Mr Malthouse had and he was about as clued up as Peter Sellars in the Pink Panther movies. This guy really needs to get out and about and speak to staff on the front line, officers and PCSO's. Don't listen to the managers, they are towing the Home Office party line, get down to the grass roots if you can stomach it. What I have witnessed and heard over the last few weeks is extremely disturbing and worries me as a London council tax payer and even more so, a UK tax payer. I am one of the fortunate ones who retired some years ago but have my finger more on the pulse of London policing matters than this puppet. If only I had the willingness and energy to get involved in local government politics and not under the banner of the 3 main political parties.
Officer numbers will stay the same??? What planet are they on?
If you reduce the number of custody suites the arrest and clear up rate will suffer. the net effect of this will be that 1. Officers will spend more time travelling to and from custody suites therefore visible patrolling will reduce. 2. Inevitably larger custody suites will be located in the busier more central locations and as a consequence there will be a further reduction in police presence in the outer, 'quieter' boroughs. 3. Officers with only an hour or so to the end of their tour of duty will naturally be disinclined to travel 30 mins back to their patrol area and 30 mins back again. 4. Officers will make tactical, practical decisions not to arrest because the custody suite is too remote and the crime does not justify the negative impact of such significant operational abstraction. Consequently clear up rates will fall. 5. The above is well evidenced from numerous such experiences elsewhere. There are very few ways the service can balance the books. Crime reflects economics poor economy + reduced police expenditure + lack of job opportunity = increasing crime. Ergo the solution proposed in the article above WILL NOT WORK.
Philip, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes and Yes. But that's the way it's going to be. Don't forget that when arrests and convictions fall, the numbers of prison spaces also fall, so the government save money all round!
Get rid of all PCSO's, too many DAC and ACC's, 80% of those could go, which would save a fortune. Too many Supt on Districts, you only need one. Too many Chiefs and not enough Indians.