Cllr Fennimore (centre left) and Cllr Stephen Cowan (centre right) with H&F police officers
There will soon be more H&F funded police officers protecting local residents than ever before. The number of locally-funded bobbies in the borough will jump more than 20% after the administration signs a historic deal with the Metropolitan Police. That is the biggest increase in local police numbers H&F Council has ever funded.
The deal will see H&F fund 44 officers – up from 36 this year. The new officers have been paid for by extra money the council’s new administration recently won when it re-negotiated deals on previously agreed property developments.
The administration took action to put extra police on the street in response to the Government cutting its contribution to policing in recent years. Across London, police numbers have fallen by 2,000 since 2010.
The 44 council-funded police officers allows the police to better work across the whole borough, to both prevent and deal with crime and anti-social behaviour.
Cllr Stephen Cowan, Leader of the Council, said: “We re-negotiated with property developers on deals already struck and have won millions of pounds in extra funds. We are using a proportion of that money to increase police numbers so that we can make a real push to drive crime down and improve safety for Hammersmith and Fulham’s residents.”
Cllr Sue Fennimore, Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion, added: "These 44 council-funded police officers will help fill the gap left by the government’s police cuts and they will play a vital role in tackling crime and working with us to reduce the causes of crime."
