Winning more police

Winning more police for Kingston is my longest campaign.

Having stopped a ten-year decline in police numbers several years ago, the last two years have finally brought an increase.

The turning point was “Safer Neighbourhood Teams” – new beat officer teams, dedicated to specific areas. The teams normally consist of a sergeant and 2 constables, supported by 4 Community Support Officers, an idea raised by Susan Kramer, when she stood for London’s Mayor.

Kingston now has community police teams in Chessington, Norbiton, Berrylands, Tolworth, New Malden and Surbiton.

Yet I have long worried about a threat to this advance. The Metropolitan Police Authority has been reviewing a complex formula which shares out London’s police across Boroughs. Bizarrely, this formula said Kingston had too many police!

Not any longer.

I’ve been lobbying hard, at many meetings with senior officers, arguing for a new, fairer formula. The old formula, for example, failed to recognise that smaller Boroughs like Kingston had similar fixed “costs” or duties as larger divisions - so it never gave us the officers we needed.

The good news is we’ve won: for the first time in living memory the formula no longer says we have too many police.

Instead, the new formula gives us 5 extra officers. Proportionately, Kingston receives one of London’s largest rises. This means Kingston will have won over 40 extra police in 2 years – a major first step to beat crime.