Attention was drawn on EastSheenMatters on 7 December 2024 to Sarah Olney’s survey about the possible Met Police plans to disband the Royal Parks Police and subsume them into local policing. https://wordpress.com/post/childlawobserver10.com/1387 This would of course affect Richmond Park and Bushy Park.
The local LibDems have now organised a petition, which will be presented to the Home Office which is set out below. The decision could come at any time so there is an urgency for publicising the plans and the petition.
“We are concerned at the recent announcement that due to police cuts policing units within the Royal Parks will be disbanded. Richmond Park and Bushy Park have remained comparatively safe with low levels of anti-social behaviour because of the work and specialist knowledge of the Parks Police stationed there. We call on the Home Office to adequately fund the MET police so this action doesn’t become needed – please sign our petition below.”
www.trlibdems.org.uk/our-campaigns/richmond-parks-police
It is perhaps unfortunate that this petition has been organised by the LibDems, given the distrust generated in East Sheen and Mortlake by their failure to take account of local feeling about the Brewery development. But this is too serious a matter to play party politics. Removing policing from such a large national visitor destination and expecting our stretched local forces to cover it is a very worrying prospect.
Two Park Rangers have written to say: “It is a significant concern for those of us volunteering, working and visiting the Royal Parks. The potential of a disbandment of our highly skilled and specialised Police detachment, with their knowledge of the specific regulations within these extensive and varied terrains, would be enormously detrimental to the ongoing preservation of these challenged Nature Reserves. The safety of all people who visit the park and live nearby would be compromised. Would it lead to the regrettable closure of the gates at nighttime? This is 2360 acres of land with no CCTV. To have no Police with in-depth knowledge on site is madness.”
It might make venison hunting easier. Would the community police be concerned about poachers seeking venison? Could it produce vigilante activity? That would certainly make it a more dangerous place.
This is urgent. Sign up here www.trlibdems.org.uk/our-campaigns/richmond-parks-police
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Richmond Park is essential to the lives of its most direct community and to the public further away seeking relaxation and safety in one of the most beautiful places in and around London. I am dismayed and angered that a politician has decided it would be acceptable to reduce/eliminate the police presence in the Park. Quite the reverse is true. People often on their own in the Park. I myself have had someone rush up and expose themselves. I was able to warn the police that someone possibly dangerous was in the park. He was found and dealt with. Suppose someone at a picnic has their bag or other possession stolen. Only police could act quickly enough to find the person before they left the park. We know altercations now often lead to violence. We need the Park Police on site to ameliorate the situation. Lastly, without police presence, the Park could easily become a location for tent encampments. I want very much the homeless to have proper, safe accommodation, but I do not want Richmond Park to become a site for the homeless nor for possible predators, as many young people use the Park regularly.
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