Key information
Petition presented by: Valerie Shawcross
Date petition submitted: Tuesday 9 December 2014
Petition presented at: London Assembly Plenary
Summary of petition
We are concerned at the loss of 194 police officers in Southwark since 2010 and call on the Mayor of London to restore our lost officers.
Response information
Name of person responding: The Mayor
Response date: Friday 6 February 2015
Thank you for the petition presented to the London Assembly plenary meeting on (9 December 2014) about police officer numbers in Southwark. I apologise for the delay in responding to you.
It is simply not true that Southwark has lost 194 officers since 2010.
I am committed to maintaining police officer numbers. Unlike other parts of the country, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is in the midst of a major recruitment drive – hiring 5,000 new police officers so we can keep numbers at around 32,000. Furthermore, these police officers are being moved to the front line where they are needed most – there will be an extra 2,600 officers in neighbourhoods by April 2015.
The way that borough policing is structured has changed over the last few years. A number of officers who were previously counted under the command of the Borough Commander now report centrally, although they still undertake borough duties. For example, officers in Intelligence and Custody are now under centralised command. This has impacted on some of Southwark’s officers who have been centralised in this way, however they continue to work in the borough and provide a service to Southwark’s communities.
Taking account of this centralisation, the current 2015 target for Southwark is 760 officers. Southwark currently has 763 officers, including 13 in training.
Although there have been changes to the overall number of borough officers the commitment to increase local safer neighbourhood teams remains. The decision to put an extra 2,600 officers in neighbourhoods means that we have been able to commit to increasing the number in Southwark from 62 in 2011 to 178 by 2015.
This increase of 116 is the second highest in London and I understand that all of these officers are now in place.
Thank you again for writing.