Ditching dedicated police has left royal parks open to crime (Reprinted with permission from The Times)

Primrose Hill in northwest London, part of the capital’s network of historic royal parks and notable for its spectacular views over the city, is now a crime scene. Finbar Sullivan, a 21-year-old video director, was stabbed to death in a fight there early on Tuesday evening. How have the royal parks, of all places, morphed into crime hotspots?

Primrose Hill, like other royal parks, including Hyde Park and Richmond Park, was policed by a dedicated team of officers for more than 150 years. Their duties included responding to serious crimes, as well as protecting wildlife and enforcing regulations. No longer. The Metropolitan Police decided to disband the specialist team last year to help to plug a £260 million funding shortfall.

Police leaders said local officers would continue to respond to emergency calls, patrol hotspot areas and investigate crimes. This sounds reassuring but doesn’t tell the whole story. The royal parks are huge public spaces. The presence of experienced police officers who knew the parks well helped to deter crime as well as offering a visible reassurance when it came to public safety.

The replacement neighbourhood policing teams are overstretched, dealing with multiple other pressures and demands. They are unlikely to enter the parks to deal with incidents unless absolutely necessary, which helps to explain why police officers are all too rare a sight.

Police leaders can’t say they weren’t warned. When the planned cuts were made public, local politicians and campaigners were quick to point out the dangers. The leader of Richmond council, Gareth Roberts, said that a rise in crime was “almost inevitable”. The Royal Parks charity, responsible for maintaining thousands of acres of green spaces across the capital, expressed “disappointment” over the decision. Pleas for a rethink fell on deaf ears.

What was foretold by critics has largely come to pass. There have been reports of organised criminal gangs targeting cyclists, forcing them off bikes with threats of violence. Other serious crimes reported include sexual offences, mobile phone thefts and drug dealing. Criminal incidents reported in the parks continue to rise, from 101 in 2023-24 to 121 in 2024-25, according to the charity’s latest annual report.

This is no time to be cutting back on the police presence in these cherished green spaces. The royal parks attract thousands of Londoners, as well as visitors from outside the capital and tourists from abroad. The absence of visible and regular police patrols only encourages criminals. The presence of a dedicated police force to help reassure the public is not too much to ask. The Met should think again.