Nickie Aiken, Member of Parliament for the Cities of London & Westminster, joined the West End police team, based in Charing Cross Police Station for a night shift to see firsthand the issues they deal with night in, night out.
Speaking after the visit, Nickie commented,
"I’ve just finished a couple of hours on shift with the West End police team, based in Charing Cross Police Station. We went walking through Leicester Square, up into Soho and talked about the issues that they are dealing with, night in, night out. And it's drugs, it’s thefts, it’s robberies, it's also assaults on themselves. I was with one of the police officers who was assaulted in Leicester Square only a few weeks ago.
"And what is clear from what I heard, and what I saw was that the Government has provided 20,000 extra police officers across the country. In the Met, we've seen over 3,000, but we need to see those police officers on the streets. These officers, these brave officers who are out in the West End need more support. So I'm taking this up with the Police Commander of Westminster.
"I want to see more police officers on the street. And also with the Deputy Mayor for Policing. It is the Mayor of London who is responsible for policing in London. The West End is a hotspot for the Met, and we need more police officers on our streets."
