Hampstead Heath policing at half-strength

A SKELETON service has been policing Hampstead Heath for the past two years because the City of London have failed to fill vacant jobs to ensure it is fully covered by officers, a report has revealed.
The Heath should have 12 full-time officers enforcing by-laws such as stopping cyclists using paths meant for walkers and ensuring owners have their dogs under control – as well as acting as a deterrent to more serious offences. Six of that team should also be trained to handle police dogs.
But a report published this week by Heath managers the City of London showed that only 50 per cent of jobs have been filled. It was presented to the Heath’s management committee on Monday, detailing how the police service had been through “a very challenging period”. The report added that it was only down to the dedication of staff prepared to work flexible hours that the service has covered the Heath sufficiently.
The news that the officers have been working at half-strength while still costing the City £500,000 a year will fan the debate as to whether they offer good value for money. Questions were asked over their use after the City faced a cash ­crisis three years ago and chose to break with 150 years of tradition and charge swimmers an entrance fee to use the bathing ponds.
Figures in the report show that last year there were 262 crimes reported on the Heath, including 26 incidents of criminal damage, 35 robberies, 15 cases of indecent exposure and 15 muggings. More recently, a man’s body was found floating in the Highgate model boating pond over Christmas.
A City spokeswoman said they are working to fill the jobs, and have recruited two extra officers, who will start work in the coming months, to bring the total up to eight. She said that they hoped four empty jobs would be filled by the summer.
“The vacancies at the constabulary resulted from natural turnover and retirement,” added the spokeswoman. “The Heath is a very safe place as reflected by a recent survey which suggests that 93 per cent of Heath users felt either fairly safe or very safe when using Hampstead Heath.”
Management committee chairman Michael Wellbank said: “We have been losing officers. One of the areas that has been particularly down is officers on bicycles. They are very important and we are working to recruit the numbers we need.”
DAN CARRIER