The Safer Parks Police Panel/Richmond Park met on Thursday 9th July 2025.
Cllr Julia Cambridge reports:
The SPPP meet every few months to discuss policing, hear about reported cases from Sgt Pete Sturgess and hear from Parks Manager Paul Richards on initiatives within the park. Attendees include Councillor Reps whose wards include Richmond Park, representatives of Pembroke Lodge, The Royal Ballet School at White Lodge, The Friends of Richmond Park, cycling, running and walking groups.
1. The Parks Police Unit will be disbanded by 1st November 2025.
2. The ten-person team covering Richmond and Bushy parks are down to six, due to officers going to other units.
3. No parks officers have been offered roles within neighbouring SNTs and have been told no extra roles will be created to boost SNTs who now will take on the policing of the parks.
4. Emergencies within the park will, as always, be attended to ‘within 8 minutes’ via calls to 999.
5. The policing of the park will be done by the three bordering Safer Neighbourhood Teams: Ham, Petersham and Richmond Riverside, South Richmond and East Sheen. The METS borders of those areas are on the graphic attached.
6. Training from the parks police to SNTs will begin in September with teams shadowing the work of the Parks Police. Members of the East Sheen SNT attended the meeting held on 9th July at Holly Lodge.
7. Going forward advice given at the meeting was for visitors to the park to download the ‘what 3 words’ APP or similar, which gives a location from a mobile phone which services can use to locate anyone when an address isn’t available.
8. Park Manager Paul Richards had held meetings with Detective Superintendent Chris Scammell and the positive news was that it is likely Ham, Petersham and Richmond Riverside and South Richmond SNTs would be able to utilise Holly Lodge as a base, which will lead to some visibility.
9. It was stressed the Royal Parks are a Charity and have no remit to employ private security which in turn would have no powers to enforce.
10. Discussion happened around the powers of a Local Authority primarily through Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs). The byelaws and civil measures that Local Authorities can deploy are not open to The Royal Parks Charity.
11. It was decided after the final meeting of the SPPP happens in October 2025, that the panel would continue. Members believed it was important to have a dedicated scrutiny panel representing park users. It was decided to continue with the input of the SNTs in place of the Parks Police Unit and with Paul Richards reporting on the projects happening in Richmond Park.
My reflections of this meeting are that firstly that specialist knowledge is about to be lost forever and secondly the Safer Neighbourhood Teams are already stretched, imposing more policing of a 2,500 acre site will further impact neighbourhood policing.
I wish some would make the connection that expecting them to police the Park with NO added resources and none of the specialist knowledge is going to impact on their work in policing our neighbourhoods.
Park Visitors to download the What Three Words app. Really? Are the police going to offer training on that?
