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One
community police officer left to cover
Roehampton
Councillors
are calling for immediate action to reverse
the long-term
decline in police numbers for the borough
after it was revealed that
Roehampton is now covered by just one
community officer compared to five previously.
Wandsworth has lost 100 police officers
in the last five years. The new
policing formula adopted by the Metropolitan
Police Authority (MPA) sets
the borough total at just 550 - below
the current budgeted target of
586.
Council
leader Edward Lister said the problems
of police shortages were
particularly severe on the Alton estate:
"Instead
of one community sergeant and four constables
policing this
area, as we had some years ago, we now
have barely one community officer who
is part of the Putney Sector team of community
officers. Even this individual can be
pulled away if Chelsea or Fulham are playing
at home. The situation is made worse by
overtime restrictions.
"The
response teams covering the area cannot
attend neighbourhood watch meetings and
work with the community in the same way.
"The
council is doing all it can to support
the police. We are seconding
parks police officers on certain operations
and even loaning out our
vehicles. What we cannot do is make up
for the sheer loss of numbers on
the ground.
"We
get a terrific service from our police
in Wandsworth. It is time
they were backed with the resources they
need to do their job properly.
Cllr
Lister has already called for an immediate
review of the system
which decides on the number of officers
for each borough.
This
followed the announcement by the MPA of
extra police for four
boroughs. One of the four, Lambeth, is
keeping an extra 75 officers.
Police
response times are slower
Local
crime reports by ward updated weekly
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