Crime has soared in London after more than 100 local police stations were shut down – and people living and working in the areas left without one are furious about it, a investigation has found.
It emerged this week that only 36 police stations remain open in the capital compared to the 160 that the city had in 2008 – a reduction of an astonishing 77%.
The cuts have doubled the distance an average Londoner has to travel to their nearest manned police help desk to around two miles – with researchers warning criminals were specifically targeting areas the Met has abandoned.
Among those closed, some have been turned into luxury flats, others remain vacant – and one was even taken over by gangsters to be used as a weed factory.
visited the areas around a number of former police stations to find a consistent pattern of anecdotal accounts of an increase in crime – accompanied by a feeling of powerlessness in the face of this.
Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies found police station closures were linked to a 11 per cent increase in local assaults and murders, a doubling of response times and a reduction in the reporting of shoplifting and bike thefts.
But, if anything, anecdotal evidence we gathered from residents suggests that crime rates could be even higher – as many say they have simply given up reporting crime such is their dissatisfaction with the Met Police.
Typical are those living close to that police station that was used to grow cannabis – as much as £1 million worth it was estimated when it was uncovered 18 months ago – in Streatham, south London.
There Raja Luthra, 72, has run a jeweller for 50 years – but only felt the need to install remote-controlled metal gates at the front of his shop when the police station across the road shut down a decade ago.
He told us: ‘It is the only way I can guarantee not getting robbed after the police station closed down.
‘I used to be able to take lunch round the corner but not anymore. The whole area has become more dangerous and it got worse after the police left.’
Streatham Police Station is now boarded up and daubed in graffiti with cardboard patched over glass-less windows.
Mr Luthra went on: ‘It sounds like something I made up but a few years ago there was a fire here.
‘When there was an investigation they realised electricity was being illegally syphoned to the old police station to grow the cannabis plants and it started a fire. To think – a cannabis factory in an old police station.’
Streatham-based bar worker Mike Steven, 20, said: ‘Streatham is a high crime area and closing down the police station has made it worse.
‘There is a lot of knife crime among young people but there is no police presence, because there’s no police station.’
Dog owner Dunstan Farmer, 50, added:’There is no deterrent to committing crime in Streatham. It can be terrifying at night.
‘The police station was even taken over and used as a cannabis factory. ‘It only got found out by the fire brigade when there was an electrical fire!’
Pub cleaner Katiuscia Hirconda, 39, told how she is frightened by phone snatching gangs carrying knives.
She said:’There is a lot of crime here.
‘People get their phones stolen by people only bikes. And there are lots of people carrying knives. It can be very frightening.’
Grandmother Merrill Rennalls, 68, added: ‘There is a lot stabbing of young people here, it’s horrible and having no police station is no good.
‘As a mother and grandmother I want there to be more activities for young people to do to keep them out of trouble.’
Web designer Niall McKenna, 40, said he had felt it more difficult to report crime since the police station was shut.
He said: Closing down the police station has certainly not helped to bring down crime in this area.
‘In Streatham you hardly ever see a police officer. And because of the lack of police presence gangs just run wild.
‘I tried to report these two lads who were walking around carrying knives, but there was nowhere to report it. So, I had to go home and report it online.’
In Camberwell the police station, which lies between a popular Greek bakery and a Lebanese restaurant, remains unoccupied and visilbly uncared for.
There, IT consultant Clifford Kumar, 50, said: ‘Closing down a police station sends out the signal to criminals that they have free rein, that it is a free for all.
‘It makes the local people feel that the police don’t care about them or the neighbourhood.
‘I’ve seen people on bicycles riding around looking for phones to snatch. It’s like they are circling, looking for their prey.’
Restaurant manager Didric Berlier, 30, said: ‘To be honest I feel safer in Camberwell than I do in central London, like Leicester Square. But it is a lot safer than Brussels, where I come from.’
Those who do still have a police station seem to appreciate it.
Restaurant worker Bianca Mazznitin, 33: ‘I live next to the police station in Elephant and Castle, and it gives me a real sense of security.
‘It makes me feel safe and that the police are interested in the neighbourhood.’
Croydon was named London’s most violent borough last month, with more than 10,000 violent incidents last year.
But the sprawling south London area has only one fully-functioning police station which is open to the public.
Bar Manager Peter Studnicki, 39, said he is planning on leaving London after 18 years because of the lack of police and rising violence.
Only on Monday his iPhone was taken from his pub The Jolly Sailor in Norwood, Croydon and a few weeks previously a group of youths threatened to smash it up.
Just five minutes away is the old South Norwood Police Station which in 2012 was turned into a sixth form college.
‘I rang the police to report my phone stolen, after I saw a man walk into the pub on CCTV and take it from behind the bar,’ Mr Stunicki said.
Acton Police Station
Bethnal Green Police Station
Bexleyheath Police Station
Brixton Police Station
Bromley Police Station
Charing Cross Police Station
Chingford Police Station
Colindale Police Station
Croydon Police Station
Dagenham Police Station
Edmonton Police Station
Forest Gate Police Station
Hammersmith Police Station
Harrow Police Station & Annexes
Hayes Police Station
Hounslow Police Station
Ilford Police Station
Islington Police Station
Kensington Police Station
Kentish Town Police Station
Kingston Police Station
Lavender Hill Police Station
Lewisham Police Station
Mitcham Police Station
Plumstead Police Station
Romford Police Station
Stoke Newington Police Station
Sutton Police Station
Tottenham Police Station
Twickenham Police Station
Walworth Police Station
Wembley Police Station
Wimbledon Police Station
‘I was told to ring my local police station. That is the problem though, there is not one.
‘The only other response was to book an appointment. What is that going to do?
‘This is not the safest area to begin with anyway and having your phone taken and being threatened with your pub getting smashed up is not nice.
‘There is no one around to help or to speak to report these problems.
‘So I am planning on leaving London now because there are other things as well, which are a problem such as the cost of living.’
Locals Andrew Bird and Ingi Piro also both believe the area is now ‘lawless’ and the decision to close the stations is to blame for the rise in crime.
Mr Bird, 52, said: ‘I was in the centre of Croydon recently and it felt lawless really.
‘Only a few weeks ago the Barclays bank was smashed up, I think in relation to the Palestinian protests.
‘Then I remember seeing four big men- the size of doormen- walking with bags full of mobile phones. I don’t know what they were doing, but I wondered if they were stolen.’
Mr Bird witnessed two police stations close to his home in Purley and Kenley close down in the last ten years and turned into flats- leaving his closest three miles away.
Mr Bird added: ‘I have worked in the area for more than 20 years and fortunately, I have had no need for the police but I am protective of my mum and I do not like all the swearing you here. There has always been something going on in Croydon worth talking about but more recently it is feeling lawless.
‘I remember the riots in 2011 and West Croydon was like a film set all on fire. You could sense something was not right in the air that day.’
In the nearby village of Kenley just over a mile away from Purley, criminals target the more affluent houses in burglaries.
‘The police station closed down about ten years ago, I remember it. Now there are burglaries and the police come and take a note. But what do they do? I am not sure they do anything,’ one local said.
For Ms Piro, 69, who lives near the old South Norwood Police Station, she is anxious about crime in the area with the help of officers.
‘It is good for the young people that there is an education centre, but what about me? How do I benefit from this? I remember when there were police stations all over London.
‘Now there are so few, that is why the crime wave is rising all the time.’
A recent study by Dr Elisa Facchetti for the Institute of Fiscal Studies found in 2008 there were 160 police stations in London and now there are only 36.
This is a drop of 124 in 16 years leaving London hit the hardest by comparison across Britain.
Both Boris Jonhson when he was mayor and Sadiq Khan struggled to resolve the knife crime pandemic in the capital.
‘I won’t be voting for anyone at this election,’ Ms Piro added: ‘What difference do they make to me?’
A few miles north, the former Kennington Police station, close to Waterloo station, is now the site of a Met Police administrative building with no public desk.
Some residents claim this makes crime in the area worse.
Media executive Rachel Mullin, 27, said: ‘Crime is rising in the whole of London.
‘I know people who have been attacked recently and had their phones stolen.
‘It was in the middle of the day. It was terrifying.
‘I can’t see how closing down police stations is going to cut down on crime, surely it’s only going to make it worse.’
Construction site manager John Macintosh, 28, added: ‘Crime in London is getting worse and closing down police stations doesn’t help.
‘Who knows why people commit crime? Maybe it’s because there are no jobs, or people think they can get away with it, or that they know nothing else apart from a life of crime.’
But not all feel at greater risk.
Restaurant worker Erin Ward, 22, said: ‘To be honest I don’t feel unsafe. I finish work late, always after midnight and walk home to Oval. My friends say I’m crazy but don’t feel afraid.
‘I don’t think the number of police stations makes any difference to crime levels as the police react to crime, they don’t prevent it.
‘There should be more social initiatives to address the reasons people commit crime.’
Writer and illustrator Nicholas Allan, 67, was also less gloomy, saying: ‘I have not noticed any difference in the level of crime in the area since the police station was closed down.’
Today the Met Police maintained that there was a 24-hour public counter service in every London borough.
A Scotland Yard spokeswoman told : ‘Every London borough has a police front counter which is open 24 hours a day to the public.
‘In addition, the public are able to contact us via telephone, social media and online at www.met.police.uk .’
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, oversees policing in the capital.
A spokesman for the Mayor told : ‘The Government has chronically underfunded the Met since 2010, cutting police funding by more than £1 billion. Since 2016, the Mayor has repeatedly tried to plug this huge funding gap, but is doing so with one hand tied behind his back.
‘Against this challenging backdrop, the Mayor has substantially reduced the rate of police station closures begun under the previous mayor Boris Johnson, who closed 70 between 2010-2016.
‘He has also maintained his commitment to a 24/7 police front counter in every borough and boosted officer numbers through record investment in policing. With an increased number of police officers and PCSOs now serving in London, the Mayor believes there now is a strong case to retain more police buildings in the capital.’