Has The Magic Box Of Coppers Finally Run Out? The Day Two London Boroughs Were Left Without Police Officers

Yesterday, a London-based police officer revealed a truly shocking fact: just twelve police officers paraded to cover two entire London boroughs. To make matters worse, the same officer reported that those same twelve officers — a number equal to those left patrolling — were abstracted, meaning they were pulled away from their normal duties to cover other events, such as central London protests.

Let that sink in.

Two London boroughs, with no meaningful police coverage whatsoever. For years, officers and policing bodies have been warning that this day would come — and now, here it is.

For those who campaigned to defund the police, well done — mission accomplished. But as you congratulate yourselves, remember this: if a violent robbery, knife attack, kidnapping, or other serious crime occurs, there may be no one to respond but all those filming it for social media, who will be little comfort to the victims.

Police forces have spent years pleading for adequate funding, fair pay, and enough boots on the ground to serve our communities. Political parties, of course, continue their endless blame games — but while they point fingers, it is the public who suffer.

The “magic box of coppers” is empty.

We hear constant promises: “Every burglary will be attended,” “Neighbourhood policing will return,” “We are rebuilding community trust.” Yet how can these promises be kept when the reality is that there simply aren’t enough officers? And when those few who remain are repeatedly abstracted to cover protests in central London, community policing — the very backbone of trust and safety — is abandoned.

One officer recently informed us, things aren’t as bad as they seem, the truth is they added, things are worse than they seem.

Officers report that covering large-scale protests in London takes priority over maintaining coverage in local boroughs. And when those neighbourhood officers do eventually return, they face a deluge of backlogged community work and public frustration.

We are told that lack of trust in police officers — not lack of funding — is the cause of these problems. Yet the communities themselves say otherwise. Ask most residents what they want, and the answer is simple: they want to see their local officers on the streets, visible and engaged, every single day.

But what happens when there are no officers left to send?

Yesterday, London reached that point — the policing equivalent of a nudist beach on a cold day. Vulnerable, exposed, unprotected.

The “defunding” of police services has worked. Two boroughs were left without coverage. And the voices that should be raising the alarm are, once again, silent.

London’s magic box of coppers is officially empty.

As Bugsy Bunny says-That’s all, folks.

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