Save Streatham's new police base

The Issue

The Mayor of London wants to close Streatham's police base under his programme to sell "expensive to run buildings which are underused" and "divert resources from where they are no longer needed".

Streatham's police base is not expensive and is desperately needed. 

The community successfully campaigned against the last Mayor of London's plans to remove police from Streatham.

We won investment of £500,000 to create a new, state of the art, accessible, police station. The new police base is located near Streatham train station so police are located in the heart of our community. It now has more officers than when the old police station was closed, two new front counters and modern, upgraded facilities.

This is possible because it has an efficient lease arrangement. The lease means money can be spent on local policing and getting police out in the community, rather than being tied up in buildings. It is a very effective use of resources.  

Having a police base in Streatham means that there is policing for the whole community - not just those who are able or want to report crime online. It provides a visible police presence and enables important links to be built with the local community.  Recently its location meant that police could be on hand to deal with two stabbings close by. 

However now the new Mayor of London is proposing not just to close the front counter service but get rid of the building and move Streatham's police out of Streatham to Brixton. You can see the proposals here (see Annex 3).

We believe Streatham needs a police base more than ever to keep police at the heart of our community, working with the local community to keep us safe.  

We reject the Mayor of London's plans and call on him to keep our local police presence and our new police base in Streatham.

avatar of the starter
Jonathan BartleyPetition Starter
Media enquiries
This petition had 818 supporters

The Issue

The Mayor of London wants to close Streatham's police base under his programme to sell "expensive to run buildings which are underused" and "divert resources from where they are no longer needed".

Streatham's police base is not expensive and is desperately needed. 

The community successfully campaigned against the last Mayor of London's plans to remove police from Streatham.

We won investment of £500,000 to create a new, state of the art, accessible, police station. The new police base is located near Streatham train station so police are located in the heart of our community. It now has more officers than when the old police station was closed, two new front counters and modern, upgraded facilities.

This is possible because it has an efficient lease arrangement. The lease means money can be spent on local policing and getting police out in the community, rather than being tied up in buildings. It is a very effective use of resources.  

Having a police base in Streatham means that there is policing for the whole community - not just those who are able or want to report crime online. It provides a visible police presence and enables important links to be built with the local community.  Recently its location meant that police could be on hand to deal with two stabbings close by. 

However now the new Mayor of London is proposing not just to close the front counter service but get rid of the building and move Streatham's police out of Streatham to Brixton. You can see the proposals here (see Annex 3).

We believe Streatham needs a police base more than ever to keep police at the heart of our community, working with the local community to keep us safe.  

We reject the Mayor of London's plans and call on him to keep our local police presence and our new police base in Streatham.

avatar of the starter
Jonathan BartleyPetition Starter
Media enquiries

The Decision Makers

Sadiq Khan
Sadiq Khan
Mayor of London
Responded
“Dear Petitioner, On behalf of the Mayor of London, we would like to thank you for your petition. The proposal to close the front counter in Streatham was part of a broader set of proposals intended to save an additional £8 million – equivalent to the cost of 140 police constables –to protect and support frontline policing as much as possible. As you are probably already aware, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and the Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC) have now published the final Public Access Strategy, which can be accessed here. The measures set out in this Strategy are part of our plan to do everything possible to protect front line policing and keep London safe at a time of unprecedented pressure on the MPS’s budget. Since 2010, the Met’s budget has been reduced by £600 million. A further £400 million of savings have to be found by 2021 and unless the Government’s funding cuts stop now, officer numbers could fall below 27,500 by 2021 – the lowest number in nearly 20 years. Just eight per cent of crimes were reported at police front counters in 2016, down from 22 per cent in 2006, and this number continues to fall. Every pound that is spent keeping a police station open is a pound that would otherwise need to be found from further cuts to police officer numbers. In Lambeth specifically, as per original proposals, the 24/7 front counter will remain at Brixton. The front counters at Streatham and Kennington will be closed. We acknowledge the concerns you have raised via this petition pertaining to the closure of Streatham police station. However, given the favourable operational reasons for maintaining Brixton police station, the proposal remains to close Streatham. It is important that the community is also aware that the Met have confirmed that while the front counter at Streatham police station will be closed from this month - in order to reduce running costs - the building will retain a police presence until 2024. These changes will result in savings of £444,000 per year to invest in frontline policing. Regarding the investment in Streatham Police Station, spending £591k allowed us to move from the old Streatham Police Station to the new location. The old one cost £260k per annum to run and the new one costs just £55k per annum. Since the front counter has been open, we have already achieved payback on what we spent. This payback will only increase as we are keeping the building in operation (without a front counter) until 2024. Yours sincerely, Public Liaison Officer Greater London Authority”

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Petition created on 26 July 2017