Two Hundred Police Officers On Way To Chiswick

Police from Hammersmith & Fulham move temporarily to High Road

Chiswick's police station is to swell its ranks with over 200 police officers arriving in the next few weeks.

The increase in numbers is not as a result of a dramatic crime surge, but is a temporary measure as Rapid Response teams from Hammersmith & Fulham 'move in' while their headquarters are being refurbished.

The move brings an increased uniformed police presence to Chiswick High Road, though it is not expected that the H & F police would have any involvement in tackling local crime.

A source said the officers from H &F could be deployed to incidents in Chiswick if they were serious enough, but this would not be done as a matter of course and they work on a different radio system to their Chiswick counterparts.

However, this could mean that despite having Rapid Response officers on Chiswick High Road, they would be unavailable to deal with a local incident which would require a patrol car from Hounslow's Rapid Respose team now based at Feltham,

The station at Fulham is being closed as an operational site and turned into a school, so senior police chiefs decided that officers should temporarily move into Chiswick Station while Hammersmith headquarters are being refurbished. Chiswick Station is a three-storey building with a car-park at the back.

The Chiswick station has a total staff of sixty officers from different teams, made up of 32 local police officers (plus eight special constables) and another thirty or so officers drawn from the five 24-hour Response Teams and Safer Transport teams- it normally has a maximum of thirty officers on any one shift.

A hurried makeover has been given to the Chiswick station, with offices being set up and lockers arranged for the new arrivals who are expected to take up residence in their temporary accommodation within the next two months. Their police vehicles will be parked in the Chiswick station car-park at the rear.

It's likely that the police teams will be heading down the Chiswick High Road towards Shepherd's Bush, White City, Hammersmith & Fulham to carry out their duties and there is likely to be more siren noise on the High road.

One source said; "Criminals don't recognise borough boundaries and Chiswick High Road has seen an increase in criminal activitiy lately. It could be quicker to have a team from Chiswick Station on the scene rather than coming from Feltham."

Police have had internal discussions to on how to manage the travelling time from Feltham to Chiswick and have introduced a system where a response car is brought on duty an hour before the normal shift start time so there is a unit out on patrol and available for calls during the hand over.

It is not known whether the station will have longer opening hours during the move. Chiswick Police Station was spared closure during a rationalisation three years ago, but now operates during business hours only, with Hounslow station the only 24-hour station in the borough.

January 23, 2016