Safety comes first as Labour boosts police teams

Leader of the council, Cllr Steve Reed, meeting local police

Lambeth is to get a taskforce of 21 new officers working in support of the local Safer Neighbourhood Police Teams, thanks to Labour. The Labour-run Council is scrapping the ineffective Council Wardens scheme introduced by the Lib Dems while they were running the Council. Instead, Labour is using the money to provide additional Police Community Safety Officer (PCSO) to work across Lambeth’s 21 police beat areas. PCSOs come under direct police command and have powers of arrest, unlike Council Wardens who were powerless to arrest wrongdoers.

The Council’s new get-tough approach on crime has been backed by Lambeth’s top cop, Borough Police Commander Martin Bridger. The Borough Commander wrote to the Council in December calling for the Council Warden scheme to be scrapped and the money used to pay for Police-led PCSOs instead – which is precisely what Labour has now agreed to do. Lambeth’s Lib Dems, who are soft on crime, are demanding that the Council must ignore the Police and refuse to boost local police teams.

Labour’s Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Cllr Mark Bennett commented: “The Lib Dems were thrown out last May because they let the Council go soft on crime. Now Labour has made tackling crime the Council’s number one priority. Labour introduced the Safer Neighbourhood Police Teams in the teeth of Lib Dem opposition. Now we’re boosting police numbers even further because we know residents are sick and tired of crime and the best way to beat it is to get more uniformed officers out on the streets.”

With the additional officers, Labour has surpassed its election pledge to provide a team of six uniformed officers for every ward, and police numbers in Lambeth will stand at a record high.

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