Scotland Yard’s ability to respond to a terror attack is being threatened by sky-high property prices forcing thousands of officers to become “commuter cops” living outside London, a new report warned yesterday.
It raised the alarm over police officers giving up hope of being able to afford a home in the capital.
The Policy Exchange study called for the Met to offer a range of financial support for housing and to encourage 3,000 more officers to live in inner-London over the next five years.
The think tank found that of the 18,179 officers assigned to borough policing, only 8,896 — just under half — lived in Greater London as of last September.
In Islington, out of 572 officers assigned to police the borough only two lived there.
Report author Glyn Gaskarth said: “Having a police force that lives outside London affects the ability of the Met to mobilise sufficient numbers of officers to deal with terrorist incidents or civil disturbances.”
Officers resident in London were more likely to pick up intelligence, the study added.
They were also more use off-duty in the capital than in surrounding counties.
The Met has sought to encourage more officers to have homes in London, including the introduction of a rule in 2014 that they must have lived in the city for three out of the past six years before joining the force.
Concessionary rail travel that allows officers to commute greater distances has also been cut for new recruits.
Scotland Yard said the residency rule had been “successful” in ensuring new constables better understood and reflected “modern” London.
And the force denied counter-terrorism operations could be undermined by having so many officers living outside the capital.
Deputy Commissioner Craig Mackey said: “We have tried and tested plans to allow us to respond at pace and effectively to a range of critical incidents and do not believe that these are in any way jeopardised by the places officers currently live.”
But the think tank, which interviewed 74 officers, found “strong reasons” to believe the exodus from London could increase, given how property prices have soared.
At the beginning of the year, the average London house price — of £530,000 — was almost 18 times a new police officer’s salary of just under £30,000, so many share flats or still live at home with their parents.
One officer who did not live in the part of London where he worked told of feeling like a “migrant worker”, adding: “I come into work, I do my work there, I go home.” Others said that when they were getting towards the end of a police shift, they would be wary of going out on a call that might delay them and cause them to miss their train home.
Officers have even commuted in from Cornwall and the South of France, while others have joined other forces or quit the service altogether rather having long commutes, often at antisocial times.
During major events such as the London Olympics, the 2011 riots and the Queen’s Jubilee, officers slept in police stations, vans and even station cupboards because back-to-back shifts meant they could not go home, according to the report called “Commuter Cops”.Scotland Yard recruited about 5,000 new officers between 2013 and last year.
The report proposed a series of measures to offer financial support so more could afford a home in communities where they work.
These include working with housing associations to convert old police stations and other Met properties into new flats which could be offered at discounted sale.
The force should also provide low-interest loans and top up officers’ savings being put aside to buy a home.
Police choosing to live in areas with higher crime rates could be offered the most help.
Mackey accepted the forced faced a “challenge” over the affordability of homes but added: “Having cut £600mn off
our spending in the past five years and needing to find another £400mn in the years ahead, our financial and operational future depends on us realising the capital of our under-used estate and re-investing that money in frontline policing.”
l A met constable who assaulted two police officers called to reports of domestic violence has been sentenced to community service.
PC Martin Wright, who serves in Hammersmith and Fulham, was found guilty of assault on police, ordered to do a 12-month Community Order and fined £900. The police officers were called to reports of domestic assault in Surrey on March 27.
When they arrived at the scene PC Wright assaulted them, leaving them with neck and wrist injuries.
PC Wright, 39, was arrested and charged with one count of domestic assault and two counts of assault on police.
He pleaded guilty to one count of assault on police and was found guilty of the second at Guildford Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
No evidence was offered in relation to the domestic assault charge.
Detective chief superintendent Matt Gardner, commander of the directorate of professional standards, said: “It is the duty of police to protect from harm, not to seek to cause it.”
“It is deeply saddening that PC Wright behaved as he did — especially as someone who knows better than most of the challenges officers face when dealing with suspects.”
The officer has been suspended from duty as a misconduct review takes place.