Dear
Member,
Croydon was let down in the riots. Now they’re cutting our police
service in Croydon North
As the
dark winter nights arrive, for many of us, simply walking home from the railway
station or bus stop becomes ever more threatening. That sense of threat is even
greater if you consider how many Croydon police officers have been cut.
 |
| South Norwood Police Station: Tories are closing this Police Station |
Since 2010, Croydon has lost 93 police officers, or 12
per cent of the borough’s officers. Police sergeants have been moved away from
Croydon North, with replacements promised but not yet on our streets. Police
stations, such as South Norwood, are being closed and sold off.
Croydon,
London’s most populated borough, now has 659 officers in its Borough Command.
London's Police Commissioner has confirmed that by 2015 the police service in
London will have had to make £500 million in budget cuts. That means even fewer
police officers, and it will also mean much less public confidence about safety
on our streets.
Nowhere
will that be more hard-felt than in those areas of Croydon North worst hit by
the terrible riots in August 2011.
On the
night of August 8 last year, at the height of the rioting with television pictures
of Croydon ablaze being shown around the world, there were only 155 police
officers on the streets of Croydon.
Key riot-trained officers had been sent
elsewhere in London.
The policing of the town was wholly inadequate in both numbers and
management.
Croydon
North was the most badly hit part of the town. Malcolm Wicks, the MP for this
area for 20 years before his sad death, was scathing about the police’s handing
of the riots, the inadequacy of the inquiry which followed and the lack of
support given to the businesses which were looted and burned out. Croydon was
badly let down by Tory management of the police services in London.
The
derelict buildings stand in evidence of the night that Croydon burned, and of
the neglect of the area by Croydon’s Tory council and London’s Tory mayor.
Rising Crime
Even
before last August, crime was already on the rise in Croydon, driven by
recession and cuts in police capacity. Official figures from London Mayor Boris
Johnson’s Office for Policing and Crime show that in the last four years, in
Croydon…
·
Grievous
Bodily Harm up 151%
·
Rape up
150%
·
Burglaries
up 22%
Despite
such evidence, Mayor Johnson is allowing the police cuts to go ahead, and the
Conservatives in Croydon Town Hall are doing nothing to oppose that to protect
our town.
Labour
believes that these cuts – 20 per cent in total – are far too much. The cuts
are being hurried through. The community and their representatives are not
being given clear information about plans for police stations and there's not
yet been any consultation about alternative facilities to replace front desks.
South Norwood police station to close
In September,
Tory Mayor Boris Johnson announced that South Norwood police station was to
close – this despite of community concerns. It is a relatively modern station
in a very central location to Croydon North, so the decision seems to lack
clear justification.
Fighting the cuts and keeping close to the community
What is at
stake isn't just the issue of police numbers but the ability of the Borough
Commands to carry out the excellent crime prevention work and community
outreach which, prior to 2008, had started to prove so effective in building
confidence within communities, improving relationships between police and the
community and gathering intelligence to prevent and deal with crime.
As Labour's MP for Croydon North I would work with councillors,
community groups, the London Assembly and local businesses to campaign against
the continuing cuts to police numbers. I will argue for no closure of South
Norwood police station until acceptable alternative facilities are in place.
I look
forward to working together with you in the best interests of the people of
Croydon,
Val Shawcross AM CBE
