"I'm sure the nick was here yesterday." Photo: Chris Hobbs
Consultation??
The public consultation meeting hosted by the Mayor's Officer for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) and the Met in a small meeting room located at Ealing Town Hall was not going well. The infinitesimal section of the Ealing public who had actually heard about the meeting were refusing to obey the request not to ask questions until the police presentation had finished.
They were initially puzzled as to references in respect of 'policing hubs' and police station 'footfall' but slowly the penny began to drop. This wasn't about simply closing allegedly 'underused' front counters; this meeting was all about closing two of Ealing's major police stations; in Ealing itself and, even more contentiously, in Southall.
Those present, including myself, were not happy; in fact I was dumfounded. My first posting as a probationary police officer was to Southall and, later as a Special Branch officer, I was heavily involved as Southall went through a turbulent period in its rich history: The death of Blair Peach during an anti-National Front riot in 1979, the Hambrough Tavern riot in 1981, murders by Sikh separatists following the storming of the Golden Temple, local Muslim temples physically keeping out Islamist extremist groups and tensions between Sikh and Muslim youths in the late 90's.
These events had also seen some quite remarkable policing and indeed the town has emerged stronger than ever with Sikhs and Muslims defending each other's temples and mosques during the 2011 riots.
Throughout these times, Southall police station has been a beacon of authority and security, conveniently placed so that community leaders can be in the local commander's office discussing potentially explosive issues within minutes. Needless to say, those at the meeting were less than happy with the proposals for these and a variety of other reasons.
A Microcosm
Events during this Ealing Town Hall meeting were almost certainly a microcosm of similar meetings throughout the country. Substantial towns suddenly found themselves without their police station(s) as did volatile inner-city areas. Time and time again, as at the Ealing meeting, glib assurances would be given that police visibility and response times would not be affected and that public preferred to contact police via telephone using the much criticised 101 system or by email.
Mobile Data Terminals (MDT's) would be the panacea in that officers could input crime and intelligence reports without having to return to their station. However, with that upside, comes a downside. Police station closures will also include closed custody suites with police officers frequently having to travel substantial distances to find vacant cell spaces.
Very often then they have to queue before their prisoner can be 'processed' before undertaking the mountain of paperwork that comes with each arrest. Even the simplest arrest could well take an officer off the streets for virtually his or her entire shift.
Down South
In retirement, I spend a great deal of time on the south coast in a resort town that has a population of 14,000 which is swollen during the summer months. The closure of the police station front counter was followed by the almost inevitable closure of the police station itself which still stands forlornly empty.
Sign smashed, doors closed; a forlorn police station awaits developers. Photo: Chris Hobbs
When I first came down, shortly before I retired, I was impressed by the enthusiastic safer neighbourhood team who were out and about in and around the High Street on most days. They seemed to know everybody and everybody seemed to know them.
Almost overnight, they vanished as if taken by a lethal plague. Now the town sees police on the occasional drive through or if they called to an incident.
With each police station closure, despite promises made, the disconnect between police and public becomes ever-greater. Already thanks to the cuts made by this government community policing has vanished in many parts of the country while in others it is hanging on by its fingertips.
Compare & Contrast
During the last few years of my service, I was fortunate enough to spend a total of 18 months undertaking a series of deployments to Jamaica. It has, as is well documented, a significant crime problem with an extremely high murder rate, yet across Kingston and indeed the whole country, there is a network of accessible police stations. These police stations exist in the most violent garrison (ghetto) areas and indeed I visited a number of them.
A police station in arguably Kingston's most dangerous area. Photo: Chris Hobbs
The Jamaican Constabulary Force (JCF) has its critics yet, I suspect, even those critics would not advocate closing Jamaican police stations in the way that is occurring in the UK. I cannot imagine the carnage that would occur if the Jamaican government adopted UK policies.
Kingston, Jamaica has a population of 937,7000 and around 30 police stations and posts to which the public have access. The proposed merger of Ealing, Hounslow and Hillingdon boroughs, announced at the Ealing Town Hall meeting, will see one policing command responsible for 881,427 persons with just three publicly accessible police stations. The remaining station in Ealing would be inconveniently located at Acton in the extreme west of the borough.
Vague assurances concerning yet to be identified 'hub's from where community and neighbourhood officers will operate from will not be accessible to the public and, as with some current bases, the public may not even be aware of their locations.
In the West Midlands, which has a population of 2,440,986 there is just one police station in Birmingham which is open 24 hours a day while just another eight are open during daytime hours; This is an area which in addition to Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Coventry has a number of other substantial towns which now have no police station whatsoever.
Compare this to a small town in the South of France where friends of mine have moved to. I'm told that for a population of just 7,000 there is a permanent, visible presence, operating from a small police station of four formidable gendarmes. In addition, there are a number of local, municipal police. Back up from Perpignan is just 15 minutes away.
Tepid Opposition
In London, Mayoral opposition to police station closures as documented in the MOPAC consultation document appears tepid. The argument that it better to save money by losing police buildings rather than officers may well have some validity yet the consultation process is clearly a sham. Local newspapers suggest strong opposition at meetings that were, in themselves poorly advertised.
In 2011 the average attendance for a similar consultation process across all 32 London boroughs attracted an average audience of 78!! Are Londoners that apathetic in respect of their policing. I don't think so.
Where were, both then and now, the full-page advertisements in local papers, the posters in local shops and perhaps even a newsletter through the letter box. I only found out about the meeting as I follow Ealing Police on twitter!!
Closure and Collapse
The closure of police stations in London and throughout the country is but one symptom of a collapsing police service whose officers are fighting a gallant rear-guard action but are being inexorably overwhelmed. This despite the humiliation of Theresa May at the General Election where the tragedies of Westminster, Manchester and London Bridge brought into focus the folly of cutting 20,000 officers.
The simple fact is that police stations are a potent symbol of authority and security; the closure of a police station takes away a chunk of security from every law abiding family and individual living in that area: Frankly the British public deserve better!