The axe has fallen on Dagenham Police station as the Metropolitan police announce its front counter will be closing.
Earlier this month the Met announced that it would be closing 18 of its 37 front counters in London in a desperate attempt to balance a £260 million budget shortfall. Dagenham Police Station is among those due to lose its front counter.
Margaret Mullane MP exclusively told the Havering Daily: “We have been here before, in 2013 and 2017 Dagenham police station was under threat of closure, and it was the MP and local community who campaigned and saved it. I worked on those campaigns and will lead on this again.”
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson has defended its position, stating that only 5% of crimes are reported at front counters. However, given that confidence in the Met is at an all timelow, there is a concern in places like Dagenham that many crimes now go unreported. The function of a front counter is not only to report crime, but to ensure that the Metropolitan Police are accessible and visible in local communities.
Plans in 2013 and 2017 proposed a complete closure of the police station in Dagenham. This new plan would see the front counter and public facing element of the station close whilst retaining the site as an operational base.
Margaret explained: “If the front counter in Dagenham closes there will be no place left to physically report crime in the whole of the borough, or in my constituency of Dagenham and Rainham. I understand that the Metropolitan Police has legacy budget issues, something I have raised in parliament at the Home Affairs Select Committee, but you can’t put a price on community safety. This decision will do nothing to restore confidence in the police and could potentially leave Dagenham more vulnerable to crime.”
Sign and share the petition here: https://www.margaretmullane.co.uk/dagenham-police-station-petition
Margaret concluded: “I am urging the Metropolitan Police to rethink this decision and encourage all residents in Dagenham to get behind the campaign. Sign the petition now and in the coming weeks help me collect signatures down your street, put up posters on local high streets and spread the word.”
Join the campaign and help Margaret save Dagenham police station’s front counter from closure!
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