The local police do a fantastic job in Harrow, which makes us the safest Borough to live in London.
On issues ranging from Hate Crime to burglaries our local Police go above and beyond to keep us safe, by working collaboratively with residents and businesses alike to resolve problems and make us feel safe.
This is despite the £600m of cuts that the Metropolitan Police had to make from 2010 to 2016 – for Harrow this meant, amongst other things, the number of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) on our streets being reduced from 114 in April 2010 to 28 in August 2015.
On top of this, a scarcely believable £800m of further cuts to London’s police budget are being proposed by the Conservative Government, with Harrow being severely affected.
When questioned about these cuts, London’s Chief Police officer Sir Bernard Hogan – Howe said that ‘I genuinely worry about the safety of London’ - this mirrors my feelings about the impact of these police cuts on Harrow.
To make these cuts there have already been suggestions that all Police Community Support Officers should be cut in London. After a public outcry this decision has been delayed until December, this was an issue that the Labour Councillors raised in September when we unanimously voted to pass a motion that supported local Police Community Support Officers, and argues against any further cuts to our Police.
With £800m of proposed savings there can be no guarantee that Harrow’s police station will remain open or that our neighbourhoods will have anything but a very minimal police presence. This would be devastating for all our communities that rely on the Police and feel so reassured by their local presence. And with crimes such as hate crime and assault on the increase, now, more than ever, we need a police force that is able to protect our residents.
In Harrow there are so many good examples of where the police and community work together – the volunteer run Pinner Police Station being an example that springs to mind, and at present its future is completely unknown.
Over the coming months we will be working with the Mayor of London to stop police cuts in Harrow, which will put in danger these community assets and our strong local police force in Harrow, as Leader of the Council I shall oppose such cuts at every opportunity.
Cllr David Perry
Leader of Harrow Council
