"Ten police front counters are due to close at the end of this month, despite campaigners claiming the move could put the most vulnerable Londoners at risk. The mayor and the Metropolitan Police had promised that every London borough would have a front counter operating 24 hours a day, but from 3 March that number will reduce to just two."
"The total number of front counters will drop from 37 to 27, with 25 staffed from 10:00 to 22:00 on weekdays and 09:00 to 19:00 at weekends. However, campaigners say many Londoners, including elderly and disabled people, may need to speak to an officer face to face, as well as domestic violence victims whose mobile phone or laptop may be controlled by an abuser."
"They were in their eighties, husband and wife, very, very distressed. They're not people that could go online or do anything like that themselves and we managed to sort everything out for them and put their minds at ease," she said. "Also domestic violence, we've had that with people, you know, young ladies come in very distressed and they're very, very scared."
Ten police front counters in London will close at the end of the month, reducing the number from 37 to 27 and leaving only two boroughs with 24-hour counters from 3 March. Twenty-five counters will be staffed 10:00–22:00 on weekdays and 09:00–19:00 at weekends. The Metropolitan Police frames the closures as part of measures to close a £260m funding gap and to prioritise deploying officers on the streets. Only approximately 5% of crimes are reported at front counters, about 50,000 of one million annual reports. Campaigners and volunteers warn that elderly, disabled and domestic abuse victims may lose vital face-to-face support.
Read at www.bbc.com
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