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London police spend 600,000 hours away from their local beat to patrol 'disruptive' national protests
19 January 2024, 08:29
Local police in London were called away from their main jobs for more than 600,000 hours in the last 12 months, figures shared exclusively with LBC show.
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They were "abstracted" - which is when officers are diverted away from their beat to help with public order operations across the capital, such as demonstrations or policing large events.
The rate of abstraction this year was three times higher than in 2018.
Analysis from LBC and the Liberal Democrats in London suggests that the figures are equivalent to a local police officer being away from their job for "one day a week" this year – with key events in the capital such as pro-Palestinian demonstrations as well as the King's Coronation taking up a considerable amount of police time.
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Rob Blackie, who is the Lib Dem candidate for mayor, told LBC: "Local police across London constantly complain to us that they want to do the jobs in their communities, but they are pulled away from it to police demonstrations and other national activities in the centre of town.
"That makes it very hard for them to do their job of building a relationship with their community, preventing crime and catching criminals… this is a really bad problem and one which is getting worse."
But former police officer Graham Wettone said it was important to have local officers drafted in to help with big events.
He said: "It gives you a more balanced and rounded police officer. You can go out in your community, and speak about these issues rather than just staying in the part of London you are policing… you have actually experienced the issues yourself."
Mr Wettone, who served in the Metropolitan Police for over 30 years, did concede that there needed to "be a balance".
He said: "If you keep sending them out on public order protests, then they are very rarely on their local beat, in the local station and answering 999 calls.
"But one day out of five or six is not too much to ask to make sure everyone is taking their share of the local duties."
The former sergeant warned that without the public order experience it can lead to officers becoming "deskilled", whereby police are "uninformed about what is going on in wider London".
Mr Blackie said being abstracted can take up vital time. He said: "If a policeman who is meant to be going off and talking to a local shop about shoplifting, or people about their cars being stolen, is then pulled into the centre of town, that is very disruptive.
"You can only solve crime is you build relationships with people in the community, that is what really good policing looks like and it’s hard if they are not in the area they are meant to be policing."
Speaking on LBC's Call The Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley admitted that it was "not ideal".
The Met Police chief told Nick Ferrari that large demonstrations will mean "that community police officers are around less, as they are dragged into a London a few times".
He added that "it doesn't leave the community totally vulnerable, but it's not ideal".
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: "Ministers have chronically underfunded the Met for far too long, and it will be Londoners left to pay the price. Our police officers will pay the price too, having to work more days and longer hours to cover these demands."
"I will continue to call for the Met to be provided with the funding they deserve."
