By James Simons-
The MAYOR of London has been heavily criticized by councilors and locals of Barkingside for closing Barkingside police station amid cuts to the police.
confirmed two Redbridge police stations will close despite a petition signed by hundreds in protest against the cutbacks.
Sadiq Khan’s Public Access Strategy confirmed that Woodford and Barkingside police stations will close as part of government cuts to the Metropolitan police, in a heavy blow crime solving.
Redbridge with only one police station with a 24/7 front counter in Ilford.
The cuts are part of the Mayor of London’s attempt to axe £400 million from The Met’s budget over the next four years.
The Mayor’s Office for Crime and Policing was initially announced in July, and a consultation on the proposals ran until last month.
The closure comes despite an anti-cuts petition against the move organised by Redbridge Liberal Democrats last July which gathered over 1,000 signatures. Redbridge Council had also officially opposed closures in September, but those calls were ignored. Locals have condemned the move as reckless and disappointing. One local who initially tweeted an expletive laden criticism called the decision ”pathetic and ridiculous”. Another local, 36 year old Jason Reeves, told the eye of media.com via phone ” this is an outrageous decision by bureaucrats who have a shallow understanding about the importance of having police stations where people can conveniently go and report crimes.
When a crime is committed, not everybody wants to call the police to their homes to report it because people get called names like ”grasses” or ”informants”. You got to understand that there a lot of shallow minded individuals who see any association with the police as a bad thing. With the existence of police stations, you can just go there and report a crime in confidence. The only people you meet there are others who are reporting a crime or answering bail for an offense. Police stations afford citizens the opportunity to discretely report crimes without being labeled by idiots who are generally criminals themselves”.
Leader of Redbridge Liberal Dems Councillor Gwyneth Deakins, leader of Redbridge Lib Dems, blasted Mr Khan for ignoring widely expressed concerns.
She told the eye of media.com: “It’s a sad day for the west of Redbridge because our local police officers will be spending less time on our streets.
“The Mayor of London has simply not listened to the concerns of residents either in Redbridge or in London as a whole.
“So-called public consultation doesn’t seem to mean anything these days – it seems it is just a fig-leaf to cover decisions that have already been made.”
However, Sadiq Khan has some backers of his own. Labour MP for Ilford North, Wes Streeting, Labour MP for Ilford North believes Khan’s decision is justified, and rather blames the Tories for the closure and the associated back clash.
He said: “Since 2010, the Tories have cut £600 million from the Metropolitan Police with a further £400 million set to be lost by 2021.
“We have seen the impact on police numbers and the loss of police stations in Redbridge – with Barkingside Police Station now the latest casualty of Tory cuts.
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“The Mayor of London is right to prioritise putting additional officers on the beat in communities and given the choice between losing police officers or losing police stations I don’t blame him for the decision he has taken.
“But, as the Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police has warned this week, the Home Secretary cannot cut £400 million from the Met and reduce counter-terrorism funding without “severe consequences”. This is an unacceptable risk to Londoners’ safety.”
Cuts to the metropolitan police has long been a problem that have put the government on the wrong side of the police. Crime in London has been rife for many years, making severe police cuts an illogical decision explained only other monetary demands of the government. However, the Met communications officer, Megan Knight for the East has attempted to justify the state of affairs by pointing to a limited number of daily complaints at Barkingside station.
Knight told the eye of media.com : “Although there are changes being made to our police stations, there will be more officers on the streets across London and there are alternative ways in which the police can be contacted by members of public.
“Barkingside Police Station will close by the end of the year, with the Borough’s 24/7 front counter provided at Ilford.
“One of the factors behind this decision is that Barkingside Police Station receives 13 visitors and just over one crime report a day.
“Closing Barkingside police station will save the Met the equivalent of around six police constables.
“There’s no question that these have been difficult decisions to make, and we thank Redbridge residents for the feedback they have given as part of the consultation.”
Knight makes a valid point that sometimes an assessment needs to be made whether the benefits outweigh the costs of making crucial changes, and in this case, it has been decided that it does. However, 35 year old Sharon Simson from Ilford, told the eye of media.com ” claiming that because only just over one report is made per day justifies closure is nonsense. Just over one can mean anything, and in any case, they usually make up the numbers as they go. How do we know that figure is accurate, and it is not actually 50 or 100 reports made a day? Besides, who says things can’t change? It is just not good enough”.