Met consultation on Police Station front counters

[joobjoob]

The Mayor is conducting a consultation on the public use of "front counters" in police stations, with a view and a criteria for doing away with them (cost saving). East Dulwich's police counter currently does not meet the criteria proposed. (It is only opened for limited hours.) I would hope that anyone who cherishes this local point of face to face contact will take part in the survey. For now you can pop in to the local station to find out how!

Personally the following springs to mind:

1) All Telecoms networks crashed in London during 7/7 as well as most public transport. In our uncertain age is it wise to limit the places of contact to telecommunications or transport dependent points?

2) Most of the alternative suggestions, phone, internet and public transport distance proposals discriminate against the elderly, the vulnerable and English second language speakers.

3) Issues of harrasment, sexual violence and intimidation are often only reported by victims, on a personal and face to face basis, and are by there nature more immediate therefore not initially dealt with by the safer Neighbour hood teams.

4) The front counter at the local station is what makes the station local in the eyes of the residents, without it- it becomes just another government building. The demise of which would probably go unnoticed until the response times increased.

[Huguenot]

Pfft.

1) Telecoms didn't go down in 7/7, they were shut down. It didn't result in monkeys flocking to cop shops. If telecoms went down over a long period you'd have a complete breakdown of society, one fat bloke getting titted off on the front desk ain't going to ease that.

2) Don't be ridiculous. Police are there to address public order issues. That's all. Anything else goes through lawyers. They're not a social service for disenfranchised social groups. Old people are not cripples, if you're worried about them go and see them and be their friend - don't expect the police to take on your responsibilities. They'll call you before going to the cop shop.

3) The day I see a victim of harrassment going to the front desk of a cop shop I'll eat my hat.

4) Get a grip, it IS another government building. An expensive waste of time.

We're not living in some sort of delirious Dixon of Dock Green society, we have a real one.

[PeckhamRose]

Huguenot you are thoughtless and cruel about this. Also as you don't live here I do wish you would think and even try and be a little empathetic, although you probably can not imagine the situation some people find themselves in, where they absolutely need police intervention. I know of two people who had to report awful crimes, and it took them ages to summon up the courage. They needed to see a police officer face to face who they knew would take them seriously, believe them, and take down notes. The day they walked in to the police station was the best day of their lives, and they reported it and were met by professional officers who sat them down in a private room and let them take all the time in the world to report what happened to them when they were a child. They told me that the police were brilliant and got back to them on regular bases with the details of the investigation.

Had there been no police stations, they might never have done this. The off chance of seeing a police officer on her or his beat is one thing, but having time to gather nerves and walk in to that station to report a crime whether it happened this morning or thirty years ago is a very important landmark for some people.

On a more local / regular level, reporting something more 'usual' we / society needs a base or some sort of 'shopfront' and the police need it too, to know that people can walk in and report or even add information that might solve unsolved crimes.

It is discriminatory against the elderly or anyone who can't use a phone or the computer or anyone who feels they can only report their crime face to face, to shut down police stations. Where is this consultation paper?

[Huguenot]

Okay,sorry, I was being unnecessarily dismissive. I was rude. Sorry. :(

I honestly don't think there are enough people in the country who are scared of telephones to justify keeping front desks open.

I think your point about face to face discussion is a good one - but you don't need a front desk for this. You can ring and make an appointment, invite the SNT over and explain your situation.

We simply live in a different world now. We have phones and internet. There are people who would argue that front desks discriminate against the disabled or the aged as much as the phone or internet do.

It's about finding practical solutions that account for modern society that the society is willing to pay for.

[peterstorm1985]

Huguenot Wrote:

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> > It's about finding practical solutions that

> account for modern society that the society is

> willing to pay for.

You're right on this point of course and the chances are that the majority will decide that they are not prepared to pay for the benefit of a minority who need counter service provision, but I'm not sure that we've quite got to the point where that minority is so small as to be dismissed. All young people have mobile phones, most of those in their 20s, 30s and 40s do but above 50 the percentage lessens and amongst pensioners the number is quite small. Age related deafness precludes their value to many older people, and is also the reason why face to face communication is often preferable to using a landline. That same group still has limited computer literacy so making an appointment needs to be arranged by a face to face communication. Spend a morning sitting in one of the doctors' surgeries and see how many older people walk in to the surgery to make an appointment rather than using the telephone. (I hadn't been aware how high the numbers were until I praised my GP for installing an automated check in system, but then she explained how limited the potential for cost savings were, as so few of the older patients were able to cope with such a system, and how much time counter staff had to spend making appointments face to face - I've since witnessed the same problem at the hospital).

[Huguenot]

My understanding is that a significant number of older people are visiting doctors because of social rather than medical issues.

If we need to address the fractures in society that means old people need to use the medical and police services to compensate for other failings, then we need to find a more appropriate solution.