Suspend the planned closure of Bethnal Green Police Station’s 24-hour front counter until a full, published impact assessment is completed and local people have been properly consulted.
On 6 August 2025 Councillor Sirajul Islam and London Assembly Member Unmesh Desai wrote to the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime and to senior Met leadership to demand an immediate halt to plans to close the 24-hour front counter at Bethnal Green Police Station.
This front desk is the only continuously staffed point of contact between local people and the Metropolitan Police in Tower Hamlets. Many residents rely on face-to-face access to report crimes, get advice and build the local trust that keeps neighbourhoods safe. Older people, people with disabilities and those for whom English is not a first language are particularly affected. Telephone hotlines and online forms are not an adequate substitute for these vulnerable residents.
We understand this proposal has been made in the context of wider cost pressures on policing. Even so, a decision that removes the only staffed counter in our borough cannot be taken without a full, transparent assessment of the impacts on community safety, accessibility and equality of access.
We the undersigned ask the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime and the Metropolitan Police Service to:
Suspend the proposed closure of the Bethnal Green front counter immediately.
Carry out and publish a full impact assessment that includes community safety, accessibility and equality considerations.
Convene a public meeting with local councillors, the Tower Hamlets Community Safety Partnership and representatives from affected communities so that residents can put their concerns directly to decision makers.
Explore cost-effective alternatives that preserve essential in-person policing access.
What has already been done
A joint letter dated 6 August 2025 was sent by Councillor Sirajul Islam and Unmesh Desai AM to Deputy Mayor Kaya Comer-Schwartz and Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist requesting suspension of the closure and a meeting with local representatives.
Local councillors and community groups are preparing a public meeting and a coordinated petition delivery to City Hall and New Scotland Yard.
We will be submitting FOI requests and gathering resident testimony about how loss of the counter would affect real people in Bethnal Green and the wider Tower Hamlets community.
What signing does
By adding your name you will help demonstrate the scale of local concern and increase pressure on the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime and the Met to pause the closure, publish an impact assessment and meet residents. We will deliver the petition to the appropriate decision makers and publicise the total number of signatures when we do.
Target
Our initial target is 5,000 signatures to show clear, borough-wide opposition. Please sign and share widely.
Delivery
Signatures will be formally delivered to the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime at City Hall and to the Metropolitan Police at New Scotland Yard. We will announce the delivery date and invite signatories and local media to attend.
How you can do more
Come to the public meeting and bring your story.
Volunteer for petition stalls or leafleting in Bethnal Green.
If you are part of a community, faith or voluntary group, please ask your organisation to endorse the petition.
