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Top cop’s warning on stations
Outgoing boss says there is more to policing than ‘attractive buildings’
THE borough’s chief policeman used his last interview with the New Journal to pay tribute to the “bravery and dedication” of his officers – and make a veiled attack on “uninformed” politicians seeking party gain from the debate over the future of crime-fighting.
With only days to go before exchanging jobs with his opposite number in Kensington and Chelsea in January, Chief Superintendent Mark Heath described his stint commanding Camden’s 800 police as “four fantastic years”, but vented guarded frustration at politicians whose campaigning to “save” Hampstead and Kentish Town police stations had risked wasting police time.
Vital debate over the shape of policing in the 21st century – likely to include a new warehouse-style patrol base and custody suite closed to the public and the sale of Hampstead police station in Rosslyn Hill as part of a Met-wide shake-up of police property – had been hijacked, he suggested.
Chief Supt Heath said: “Invariably time is taken up dealing with it, and that is time that could be spent doing other things.
“I would encourage politicians, on behalf of their constituents in future elections, to understand why the future strategy for policing is important – to understand the complexity of modern policing.
“Maybe they do understand it – and if they genuinely believe what they are saying then that’s fine.
“Only they know what they have done and why they have done it.”
The borough commander, whose own view of Hampstead and Kentish Town stations as obsolete “trophy sites” has long been known, declined to name names.
But the future of Hampstead police station in particular has been a political rallying-point for both Lib Dem parliamentary hopeful Ed Fordham and his Conservative opponent, Councillor Chris Philp.
While Mr Fordham, whose “save our station” slogan corresponds with similar Lib Dem campaigns in other boroughs, led the way by exposing Met plans to sell Hampstead using Freedom of Information powers, Cllr Philp has countered with a leafleting campaign in Hampstead Village, most recently last weekend.
“Police stations have got to be as efficient as they can be. This is around better policing,” said Chief Supt Heath. “There is far more to policing a borough than maintaining an attractive building.”
The station debate apart, Mr Heath said he was leaving an “excellent” borough to his successor, Chief Supt Dominic Clout, who arrives in January – but added a word of caution that the battle against drugs culture in Camden Town was far from over.
He said: “Camden Town is not just a police responsibility – it requires consensus and compromise in terms of what people want policing to look like.
“Enforcement alone isn’t the answer for it.”
At the heart of Chief Supt Heath’s term at Camden lay the bombings of July 7 2005. A five-yearly report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary recently described the efforts of Camden police and its management on that day as “outstanding”, and Mr Heath paid tribute to the “phenomenal efforts” of his officers in their response.
“It came from nowhere in a way that the UK had never seen before. We copped most of it in terms of those bombings, and the response came from Camden police as a whole, with officers coming in on their days off... it was a phenomenal effort.” |
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