The Evening Standard reports on Policy Exchange’s latest report Commuter Cops.
“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 today.
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.”