As mayor I’ll reopen 38 police stations to boost public safety, says Shaun Bailey

London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey
AFP/Getty Images
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Shaun Bailey today pledged to reopen 38 police stations closed since 2016 to boost public safety and confidence if he is elected mayor of London.

The Tory candidate, pictured, insisted the pledge, which will be in his manifesto, could be achieved by the end of his first term in office.

He argued police station visibility is a “central plank of a safe city, as it makes reporting crime and engaging with the police much easier”.

Mr Bailey, who is challenging Mayor Sadiq Khan in May’s election, claims £15.4 million saved at a “bloated” City Hall could be spent on ensuring a minimum of two police stations per borough, with some having more.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan
PA

He said: “I was a youth worker for more than 20 years.

“I know the streets, I know how they operate and I know how to tackle crime. A strong local police presence changes the culture, it makes it harder for criminals to operate and leads to better police-community relations — all good things.”

Liberal Democrat candidate Siobhan Benita has also vowed to reopen police stations shut by Mr Khan.

“We must get back to a model of community policing that works,” she said.

Siobhan Benita
Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images

In November 2017, Mr Khan blamed government cuts for the decision to close at least 37 out of 73 police stations to make £8 million in savings.

The move was criticised by crime victims including local councillor and university lecturer Paul Kohler, 60, who was attacked by four men who stormed his six-bedroom Wimbledon home and beat him in front of his terrified wife in 2014.

He says he survived because police officers were able to get to his house from the local station within eight minutes of the 999 call.

Police in London (Anthony Devlin/PA )
Anthony Devlin/PA

High Court judges ruled in July 2018 that plans to shut Wimbledon police station should be reconsidered.

The Tories claim despite 29 of the stations closed by Mr Khan being earmarked for disposal, only three have either been sold or had their leases ended.

Dozens remain in the Met estate but are not open to the public to report crimes, according to Mr Bailey.

Labour have said Mr Khan has kept a 24/7 policing front counter in every borough and more police stations were closed under Boris Johnson as the previous mayor.

A spokesman for London Labour called Mr Bailey’s criticism of police station closures “staggering hypocrisy” from a “man who implemented massive cuts to the Met as crime and youth adviser in No 10”.

They said: “Sadiq has had to take difficult decisions in order to protect frontline officers.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in