Chris launches Lib Dem plans for policing in Streatham, Brixton and Clapham

9.53.00am GMT Mon 8th Feb 2010

Liberal Democrats in Streatham have today set out their General Election plans to put more police on the beat. The extra officers for the local area will be funded by the savings from scrapping ID cards, and are part of the Liberal Democrats' Safer Streets - More and Better Police manifesto commitment, which was launched last week.

Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for Streatham, Brixton and Clapham Chris Nicholson said:

"The massive response to our recent Crime Survey showed that a third of people in Streatham feel most unsafe going out and about after dark. And over half the people surveyed want more police on the beat.

"Streatham residents do not want expensive ID cards, they would prefer money to be better spent on 'out of office hours policing' by Safer Neighbourhood teams.

"The Liberal Democrats are committed to more police and making the streets safer. Our proposals would enable the Met to hire an additional 595 officers."

The Liberal Democrat proposals come hot on the heels of Tory Mayor Boris Johnson's budget which, instead of increasing the number of police ,will actually CUT the number of police officers by 455 by the time London hosts the Olympics in 2012.

Chris added: "The Conservatives are cutting the number of police on the beat and Labour threatened to close police stations in Clapham and Streatham. Only the Liberal Democrats want to cut crime by putting more police on the street."

The Conservatives can't win in this area and Labour want to close down police stations. The Liberal Democrats offer real change and safer streets.