Calls to reopen Richmond police station after crime spike

A local Neighbourhood Watch coordinator has started a petition to reinstate Richmond station, which closed due to cuts in 2017.

Pam Staffell, who has lived in Richmond since the 1970's, said there is a “huge demand” within the community for ramped-up police presence, after an increase in stabbings, thefts and antisocial behaviour in the past months.

Two Police Stations – Teddington station and Sovereign Gate - were closed in December 2017, in a round of Met Police cuts.

Teddignton Police Station closed in 2017

The move left the Twickenham branch as the borough’s sole 24-hour police station open to the public.

However, police and the Mayor of London said the move would save the Met nearly £590,000 per year - “the equivalent of 11 police officers”.

But Ms Staffell's petition appeals to Sadiq Khan and The London Assembly to reverse this decision.

The Neighbourhood Watch coordinator said the closure was to blame for an increase in serious crime.

“The rise in crimes in Richmond and the lack of a regular police presence and patrols in the borough must all be attributed to the closure of the police station.

“The station was removed on the basis that police accessibility should be improved on the ground, but there is no sign of increased numbers of police patrolling or a station. Our neighbourhood needs to be safe and secure,” she said.

Richmond is known as a relatively safe area, with one of the lowest crime rates in London.

But recently there has been an increase in violence in the residential south west London borough.

Two stabbings occurred in May – a 14-year-old victim of a robbery in Teddington Lock and a 39-year-old fatality in South Twickenham.

SEE MORE: Teenager stabbed in Teddington Lock robbery

SEE MORE: Richmond murder probe after man dies days after stabbing

Ms Staffell’s cause has been picked up by Nicholas Rogers, the Conservative Assembly Member for South West London.

Mr Rogers raised the subject of a new Richmond Police station with Mayor Sadiq Khan on BBC’s Question Time last week.

According to Ms Staffell however, the petition must raise 1000 signatures before it is presented to the Mayor.

You can see the petition here.