MPS Town Centre Team Launch; North Area

FAO: All Schools / All Phases

Dear Key partner,

I write to provide an update on the Met’s vision for enhancing local policing across London and our plans to deliver this on North Area BCU (Haringey and Enfield) over the coming months.

London will soon be getting an additional 650 police officers who will work solely in busy public places and other areas, including those where women and girls often feel unsafe. Five hundred officers will form town centre teams across the capital and will be based permanently in busy neighbourhoods.
The public regularly ask for more visible policing presence in their local areas. Placing them in these locations is a really important part of how the Met is responding to helping communities feel and be safe. The extra officers will patrol at the times that will have the most impact on crime as well as on public safety, such as in the evenings.
The town center teams will be made up of one Inspector, two sergeants and 21 police constables.

The decision as to their location was led by data and intelligence which considers locations that generate the most policing demand, areas with higher crime levels and/or areas where confidence in the police is low.

The locations for town centre teams in North Area are that they will be in Wood Green and Edmonton. This is currently what the data is telling us as to where they are needed.

As a BCU we have been asked to launch at least one Town Centre team before Christmas with any BCU who has a second Town Centre team to be launched before the end of the financial year.

We have selected a team to be the Wood Green Town Centre team and they are expected to start on 6^th December 2021 as they featured slightly higher on the data which came out. It is expected Edmonton’s Town Centre team will be launched sometime in February 2022 well before the end of the financial year.

Some early engagement with stakeholders has already starting to take place.

This is one of the ways the Met is investing the recent increase in police officer numbers, and tackling the things that most matter to Londoners - such as driving down all forms of violent crime, including domestic abuse and violence against women and girls. The town centre teams follow the creation of 12 Predatory Offender Units in 2020, which to date have arrested more than 2,000 suspects for domestic abuse, sex offences and child abuse; and continue to focus on the most dangerous offenders who present the highest harm to women and girls.

A further 150 officers will join London’s dedicated ward officers – who are already based in communities and work with Londoners to drive down crime and problem solve local issues, including concerns raised by women about areas or individuals. Further analysis and consultation will take place before these officers are assigned to key wards across North Area in the coming months.

Met Police Assistant Commissioner Nick Ephgrave, said: “Our growth enables us to increase our presence in busy neighbourhoods and town centres and be even more focused on protecting people and solving the long-term crime and anti-social behaviour issues we know people care about most – like violent crime, and violence and harassment committed against women and girls. Local policing is at the heart of everything we do and we know that we are so much more effective if we are in communities and neighbourhoods, working side-by-side with all Londoners, listening and engaging with them, tackling the issues that make them feel unsafe. We want communities to regularly see and get to know their local officers, so that they trust and have confidence in them, knowing they are there to protect and keep them safe.”

If you have any further questions about the town center teams please do not hesitate in letting me know.

Yours sincerely

C.I Jonathan Waterfield

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