Shoreditch Police Station to be axed in ‘drastic’ shake-up

Future in doubt: Shoreditch Police Station. Photograph: Google Streetview

One of Hackney’s two police stations is to be scrapped, London’s mayor Sadiq Khan has announced.

Shoreditch Police Station on Shepherdess Walk has been earmarked for closure, with the 24-hour front counter in Stoke Newington set to stay.

According to a draft strategy published by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (Mopac), 1.1 crimes per day are reported at the Shoreditch nick, compared to five in Stoke Newington.

The proposals will see 40 of London’s 73 front counters shut, leaving one 24-hour counter in each of the capital’s 32 boroughs.

Khan said government cuts had left him with “no choice but to take drastic action”, adding: “My top priority is keeping Londoners safe, and every pound saved by closing a front counter is a pound of savings that we do not have to find by reducing the frontline.

“By freeing up officers and moving them closer to their communities, they will be able to spend more time on the beat to tackle the issues that matter most to Londoners, such as knife crime, anti-social behaviour, hate crime and extremism, and domestic abuse.”

The Metropolitan Police has had to find £600 million in savings since 2010, with a further £400 million needed over the next four years.

Khan went on to say: “We will still be able to maintain a 24/7 front counter service in every borough and are improving the telephone and online services that Londoners value so highly.

“The government urgently needs to properly fund the Met police so that they can do their job and keep Londoners safe.”

The Mopac report also outlines a number of other planned closures in Hackney, including Safer Neighbourhoods (SN) bases on Haggerston Road, Orsman Road, Shacklewell Lane and Theydon Road.

These places are where SN teams start and end their patrols, and some also serve as non-urgent contact points where residents can meet their local police officers face-to-face.

In a joint foreword for the Mopac report, Khan’s policing chief Sophie Linden and Met Commissioner Cressida Dick said cuts had forced them to make “tough choices”.

The pair want to hear from Londoners about how they can “mobilise communities and involve local people” in crime prevention, adding: “While the direction of travel is broadly settled, this document asks a number of questions, particularly about how we should improve public engagement, and we look forward to hearing from Londoners in the coming weeks and months.”

The consultation is open until 6 October.

To take a look at the plans and have your say, visit the Mayor’s website here