The Metropolitan Police has planned to close half the desk at its stations to save money, the BBC has learned.
The move will reduce the number from 37 to 19 in London, and the pledge of a 24/7 counter staff will be broken in each of the 32 boros in the capital.
A Met police spokesperson said that the plan was under consultation and no changes would be made by the end of this year.
He said, “Given the lack of budget of Mate and shrinking size, it is not durable to keep all the front counters open,” he said.
The Mate covers all parts of London besides the square mile covered by the city of London city.
Met Police Chief Sir Mark Rowley had taken an unusual step to warn the Prime Minister Sir Kir Stmper last month as to whether the police forces would face the “Stark option”, which crimes are investigated whether their budget was cut.
The concern about funding was such that Home Secretary Yett Cooper interacted with the treasury with the treasury, as ended Final cabinet minister To agree on the expenses of his department.
Labor committed the manifesto to halpend the violence against women and girls as well as knife crime.
At the same time, Met is struggling with a widespread loss of faith in its officers, especially among women after the murder of Sara Everrd by a serving police officer.
There were further disclosure about the misconceptions and racism, which attempted to rebuild confidence with a two -year plan with the London, which has a fresh commitment to community policing. A new meeting for london strategy.
An important commitment was at least one 24/7 front counter in each of the 32 Boro in London, making it easy for people to report crime.
But the BBC has seen the leaked plans for the Met Police which show that only eight counters will be open 24/7, and will also reduce hours at 11 front counters, which will be closed in the week and 7 pm weekend.
A Met Police spokesperson defended the plans, saying: “That is why we have taken a difficult option to close some shutdown and reduce in hours – we allow us to deal with crimes and continuously focus on resources when more authorities in the neighborhood in London.”
The spokesperson said that in the last year, 5% of crimes were reported in the front counters, “Most of the people of London are making it in a person with calls, online, or other places”.
Nearly one lakh offenses (948,241) reported Met in 2024 Latest government figuresIt adds only under 50,000 offenses (47,412) reported at existing front counters.
The home office and the mayor of London have been contacted to comment.
