Bexley residents feel less safe due to declining police presence and rising car thefts and shoplifting.
Islington’s crime rate is double Bexley’s rate, while Greenwich has a crime rate 50% higher. These stats affect police deployment, and police officers are often moved elsewhere.
Sadiq Khan changed policing in 2018, combining Bexley’s police with Greenwich and Lewisham. Our policing needs are actually different.
Bexley doesn’t feel as safe as it looks, as local policing has really declined here. Many local crimes are also going unsolved. The number of local police officers has greatly fallen, dropping two-thirds under the current mayor.
Boris Johnson had 6,459 local officers in 2015. Now, the city only has 2,310 officers.
The government added extra officers nationwide, but the Met police failed to meet their goals, falling short 1,089 officers. Khan returned £31 million due to this failure. Special constable and community support numbers also fell.
People in Bexley feel unsafe now. Neighbourhood policing has gotten much weaker, and we also lost our local command structure.
Low crime hides a problem with local crime. Car theft went up 25% in twelve months, with over 1,100 cars stolen in Bexley.
Local teams try to stop car thieves, and only 25 thieves were caught recently. This is the highest number across boroughs, but still low. Police haven’t prioritized these teams because the Met hasn’t.
Shoplifting rose in Sidcup and Welling too, going up by 68% and 179%. Burglaries remain stable sadly, but arrests are rare with only 16 caught out of 688 break-ins.
Changes are needed immediately for Bexley. We need to bring back neighborhood policing and leaders. This helps investigate crimes and catch criminals.