PoliceRichmond Council

Police counter closures must have local benefit calls Richmond Council

The Council Cabinet Member for Community Safety has today voiced his disappointment in the Mayor of London’s announcement that two local police counters will close and insists that any savings must be used to improve frontline policing.

Earlier this year the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan carried out a consultation on his plans to reduce the number of police front counters in London, in order to put an additional £10million into frontline policing in London’s communities.

Mr Khan has today announced that Teddington and Richmond (Sovereign Gate) front counters will close, following a drop in the amount of public use. The 24 hour desk in Twickenham will remain open.

These changes will result in savings for the MPS of over £597,000 per year in revenue savings and significant capital receipts.

Responding to the Mayor’s announcement, Cllr Mark Boyle, said:Although I am disappointed to see police front counters closing, I am sure that the public are in agreement that any money saved as a result should be invested in more frontline policing and improvements in reporting services.

“The Council has conveyed the firm message that any savings made from closures in Richmond should be allocated to improving police accessibility here in the borough – both on the ground and in improvements to online and telephone reporting tools.”

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *