Wandsworth Council has been accused of duping voters by hiring ‘civil servants with limited powers’ having said it would boost the number of ‘law enforcement officers’ ahead of the last local elections. In 2022, Labour pledged to “put more law enforcement officers on the streets… paid for by levies on property developers”, a promise that helped defeat the Conservatives after four decades.
But Tory leader Cllr Aled Richard-Jones has claimed increasing the number of Community Safety Officers (CSOs) amounted to “abandoning” the promise and “twisting the words” of its manifesto. He argues CSOs do not have the same powers to arrest, detain, and enforce the law as a uniformed police officer, so should not have been described as ‘law enforcement officers’.
If they are accredited by the Metropolitan Police under the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme (CSAS), CSOs are granted powers to issue fixed penalty notices, confiscate tobacco and alcohol, and request names and addresses. But this does not put them on a par with uniformed Met officers, or Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) who can detain suspects for up to 30 minutes.
A recent job advert on Richmond and Wandsworth’s recruitment portal described a £40-50,000-a-year CSO role as “non-uniformed and predominantly non-enforcement”, but requiring “strong experience using ASB tools and powers”. Neither CSOs or PCSOs have powers to arrest, beyond those already granted to the public under Section 24A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.
Cllr Richard-Jones also pointed out how neighbouring Labour-run Westminster Council has directly funded nine new police officers to combat anti-social behaviour in crime hotspots as part of a new Police and Council Tasking Team (PACT).
Largely driven by theft and violence, Westminster is by far the worst affected borough for crime in London, with a crime rate of 360 offences per 100,000 residents – twice as bad as second placed Camden, and four times worse than 22nd placed Wandsworth.
Despite being the safest inner London borough, critics at Wandsworth Town Hall can point to a significant increase in offences like theft from a person and shoplifting, which has risen from around 80 offences a month in 2022 to a peak of 348 offences this August.
Like most London boroughs there have also been bursts of violent crime, including the recent killing of 19-year-old Rinneau Perrineau, who was stabbed to death in Lavender Hill in October.
Analysis by MyLondon shows the rolling 12-month average of murders per month in the borough fluctuated between 0.17 and 0.5 from 2003 to 2017. It peaked in mid-2018 at 1.08. It has since dropped back 0.17 in the most recent data (up to June 2025).
The Council has also invested in CCTV and mobile monitoring units, paid for by levies on developers without raising council tax, and relaunched Neighbourhood Watch across the borough.
‘The Tories think we’re living in Gotham City’
Labour insist the picture is improving though, and claim the Tories think Wandsworth is like Gotham City, the fictional backdrop to Batman’s crime-fighting escapades, teeming with violent criminals and psychopaths.
Wandsworth did, however, briefly become Gotham City in 2007, when filming for Batman: The Dark Knight (2008) shocked Battersea residents with a “massive explosion and 200ft fireball” in the old power station. The power station was also converted into a mini Gotham City for the 1997 premiere of Batman & Robin.
Challenged on the ‘law enforcement officer’ row by Cllr Richard-Jones at a council meeting on October 22, Wandsworth Labour leader Cllr Simon Hogg insisted his party had kept their word by doubling the number of CSOs paid for by property developers.
“If we meant to say police officers, we would say police officers,” said Cllr Hogg, “It’s a completely different job title. It’s a completely different way of paying for it. We would very clearly have planned for that and executed it.
“I think the fundamental problem here is that the Tories think we’re living in Gotham City, that this is some dreadful crime-ridden place. The reality is that Wandsworth is the safest in a London borough and this is in a London that is seeing knife crime fall and homicides are now at their lowest level for decades.”
Cllr Angela Ireland, Cabinet Member for Finance, also came up against questions on the topic on October 9 when she was asked if Wandsworth “will have a single law enforcement officer paid for by developers” by the May 2026 local elections.
“I don’t know,” she said, prompting laughter from Tory councillors. When Cllr Peter Graham jabbed: “You don’t know if the Labour Manifesto is going to be upheld?”, she responded: “I am very confident that the Labour Manifesto will be upheld.”
Speaking to MyLondon this week, Cllr Richard-Jones said: “At a time when concerns about crime are rising, residents will be alarmed to see that Wandsworth Labour have abandoned their promise to fund more law enforcement officers on our streets, and shocked to see the Council Leader twisting the words of his own manifesto to conceal it.”
A spokesperson for Wandsworth Council said: “Community safety is a priority for Wandsworth residents, so it’s a priority for the council. We have invested in new Community Safety Officers across the borough who work closely with Police Officers to keep communities safe and tackle Anti-Social Behaviour. These new crime-fighting roles were funded by property developer taxes.
“In addition we have campaigned to keep Police front counters open, and recently launched a new Safer Neighbourhood touchdown space in Roehampton and Tooting which gives the police a dedicated hub where they can meet and work, ensuring a more visible and responsive police presence to deter crime.”
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