Jenny
Jones is calling on the London mayor to make extra funding for local
policing a higher priority than Olympic security. Olympic security is
expected to cost £800m in the build up, and £600m during the event
itself.
Jenny Jones commented:
"The Olympics cannot
become a bottomless pit for public funds and police officer resources.
Local neighbourhood policing must be prioritised over providing
security for large events and celebrities. Londoners need to be
reassured that there won’t be fewer police on their local streets in
the next few years, as a result of security overload during the 17 days
of the Olympics."
"The money being spent on security at the
Olympics would pay for all the Safer Neighbourhoods Teams in London for
more than 6 years. A lot of that expenditure is recruiting police into
the Olympic security team way ahead of their being needed for anything
useful."
Notes
1. The budget for safer neighbourhood
teams in London in 2007 was £215,460,000. Over six years this would
amount too around £1,292,760,000.