An Eltham Councillor has revealed that figures released by the Mayor of London to justify the closure of Eltham Police Station actually prove it is busier than Plumstead and other neighbouring stations.
In Cllr Spencer Drury’s response to the Mayor of London’s Public Access and Engagement Strategy (which includes a plan to close and sell off Eltham’s Police Station) he points out that the figures contained in the plan actually suggest that Eltham’s Police Station is busier per hour than Plumstead or Bromley.
The figures suggest that Eltham Police Station dealt with 0.175 crimes per hour over its counter in May compared with 0.133 at Plumstead and 0.108 in Bromley. Neither Bromley nor Plumstead are scheduled for closure.
Spencer also pointed out that the figures provided by the Mayor simply don’t make sense as they suggest parts of crimes were reported over the counter during May – for example Plumstead apparent dealt with 99.2 reported crimes. There is no explanation for how the 0.2 crimes occurred.
Eltham Councillors Spencer Drury (standing on step) and Charlie Davis outside Eltham Police Station.
Spencer said “The Mayor’s slapdash consultation seems not to take into account the number of hours a police station is actually open, so the fact that Eltham is only part-time has been ignored in the rush to sell it off.”
“I completely oppose the plans to close and selloff Eltham Police Station, but it appears that the Mayor of London is determined to undermine our community regardless of the facts. As with Boris Johnson previously, I hope the current Mayor of London will listen to reasoned argument and change his plans so that Eltham is kept open.”
Further notes for interested readers
- Annex 3: Front counters set to close and remain, with average daily crime reports on Page 48 of the Mayor of London’s Public Access and Engagement Strategy gives figures for crimes recorded at London’s police front counters in May 2017. Looked at on an hourly basis, the figures for Eltham, Plumstead and Bromley are:
| Police Station |
Weekly Hours Open |
Daily Crimes reported at front counter | Crimes reported during month |
Crimes reported weekly in May (assuming 4.43 weeks in month) |
Average reported crimes per hour open |
| Eltham |
40 |
1 | 31 | 7 |
0.175 |
| Plumstead |
168 |
3.2 | 99.2 | 22.4 |
0.133 |
|
Bromley Police Station |
168 | 2.6 | 80.6 | 18.19 |
0.108 |
- It is hard to establish precisely what the figure quoted in the consultation is for the Daily Crimes reported at the front counter means if the police station is not open every day. Is this the monthly figure divided by the number of days each police station is open or is it the monthly figures divided by the number of days in the month? Without this information (which was provided carefully and precisely in 2012) it is extremely hard to know if the Mayor’s judgement about which are busy police stations is accurate.
- Conservative Councillor for Eltham North Charlie Davis launched a petition to save Eltham Police Station which can be found at https://www.change.org/p/save-eltham-police-station.
- It is worth noting that Eltham Police Station is the base for many ward teams across the south of the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
- The Mayor of London’s Strategy leading to the closure of Eltham Police Station can be found at: https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/mayors-office-policing-and-crime-mopac/mopac-consultations/share-your-views-accessing-met?source=vanityurl