Croydon’s “thin blue line” is being made thinner still due to other demands on policing around the capital.

Policing in Croydon is more impacted by having officers assigned to other duties than all-but-one other London borough, official figures show.

Abstract concept: more police from Croydon get assigned to other duties than all-but-one of London’s 32 boroughs

The reassignment of officers is known as “abstraction” in policespeak. In 2023, Croydon had almost one-quarter of its officers, 23.5%, absent from the frontline – almost double the figure from two years ago.

“There were 11 murders in Croydon last year, more than any other London borough, so we are in desperate need of more officers on the frontline, not less,” said Claire Bonham, the Liberal Democrat councillor for Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood.

“Residents will be alarmed to learn of such a high abstraction rate, given the challenges we face locally and the reassurance that visible local policing provides.

“In Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, the rate is even higher than the borough average with 23.9% of our local team lost to abstractions.

“While policing a capital city certainly has its challenges, it is naive to think that high levels of abstraction will not have an effect on frontline policing.

“We are lucky here in Crystal Palace to have a dedicated community police officers who are really committed to the area but we need a fairer approach to abstractions given the needs of a borough like Croydon.”

• Click here for the official figures on Met officer abstractions in Croydon

Read more: Croydon in 2023: London’s borough with most murder victims
Read more: Youth knife crime review stresses agencies’ powerlessness

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