Lewisham to lose dedicated borough commander due to Labour Mayor of London policing shakeup.
Lewisham Conservatives have voiced their disappointment with the decision to axe the role of borough commander in London. Lewisham will now lose their dedicated borough commander and the new commander will be joined with Greenwich and Bexley in a new unit which will replace the current borough model.
Last year Conservative Candidate for Mayor of Lewisham, Ross Archer, campaigned against the Labour Mayor of London policing plans urging him not to press ahead with the proposal and arguing that Lewisham needed a sole focused borough commander; to ensure resources are properly allocated where needed. Many fear the new multi-borough model will damage the vital link between communities and the police leadership.
The news is a further blow to policing in Lewisham after the Labour Mayor of London ignored a petition signed by hundreds of residents and went ahead with his plans to close both New Cross and Catford Police stations, leaving Lewisham with only one police station.
Ross Archer said "I am disappointed that we are set to lose our Borough Commander in Lewisham as well as 2 out of 3 of the our police stations. With violent crime and knife crime on the rise we need to a strong local policing to counter these threats in the streets they know best - these new 'regions' are too big for this to be effective".