The Met is struggling to recruit enough officers to replace those leaving, following a massive increase in resignations.
London Assembly Member for Bexley and Bromley, Thomas Turrell, claims that the Mayor of London has failed to publicly support officers at key moments, which is leading to officers leaving the force. The resignation rate amongst officers has increased hugely in recent years and now accounts for half of those leaving. Thomas has previously called on the Mayor to apologise for statements he has made to firearms officers.
Currently, the Met predicts it will lose 2,500-3,000 officers a year. However, this year it recruited only 1,300 new officers. This deficit means the Met will lose officers unless it can improve its recruitment record. As part of the previous Conservative Government’s commitment to recruit 20,000 new officers across England and Wales, the Met had expected to gain 4,500 officers. However, Sadiq Khan was the only Police and Crime Commissioner not to meet their target. Instead, just over 3,400 officers were recruited, with the Met missing out on £60 million of funding.
All this means that officers’ numbers in the Met have dropped below 30,000. In practical terms, it has already been announced that the Police’s school team will be merged with Safer Neighbourhood Teams. The Royal Parks team are also being abolished. Experts predict that the Mayor’s most recent budget would lead to a cut of 400 officers. The Conservative group at City Hall moved an amendment to stop the cut to officer numbers, but Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green Assembly Members rejected the amendment.
Further cuts to the police in London include:
Locally, the Conservatives have been campaigning to reopen the Penge and West Wickham Police Bases, which would help restore neighbourhood policing in the area. The Met Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, has included the need for new bases to keep officers based in the local community as part of his ‘New Met for London Plan’.
London Assembly Member for Bexley and Bromley, Thomas Turrell, criticised the Mayor’s leadership of the Met Police, saying:
“The recruitment challenges are unique to the Met Police, where Sadiq Khan is responsible. He failed to meet the target of 4,500 new officers from the previous Conservative Government, he is now failing to recruit enough officers each year to maintain the number of police we need. Our local police teams are doing an amazing job in very difficult circumstances, and they need the support of decision-makers like the Mayor. Instead, he has shut their bases and left officers waiting for the bus, he is scrapping the school’s team, he attacks officers in the press and then wonders why people aren’t signing up to be police officers.
The Mayor needs to take responsibility, show leadership, and get a grip on this situation. We must restore faith in the Met police; that means action. Action on tackling vehicle theft, shoplifting and muggings. People must feel safe in their neighbourhoods. We need to give the police the tools and resources to do this, not savaging their budget for pet projects.”