A massive shake-up of policing in Hackney has seen the borough split up into four neighbourhood teams.

Hackney Gazette: A map of the four new Safer Neighbourhood Teams in HackneyA map of the four new Safer Neighbourhood Teams in Hackney (Image: Archant)

Under the new Police and Crime Plan – which affects all of London – the 19 safer neighbourhood teams have been split into four key clusters – each with a dedicated inspector, named police constable and police constable support officer (PCSO).

The changes, which came into affect last Monday, are part of a plan to meet targets which include cutting key crimes by 20 per cent, improving public confidence by 20 per cent and cutting costs by 20 per cent by 2015. Hackney Police station on Lower Clapton Road, Clapton was a closed last Sunday as part of the cost-cutting measures.

Hackney is now split into Stoke Newington which covers north-east of the borough; North-East; Homerton, which covers south-east of the borough and Shoreditch, which covers south-west of the borough.

Ch Insp of neighbourhood policing Andy Walker rebuffed fears that policing levels would be cut and said that there would be more bobbies on the beat than ever.

He said: “We are putting more officers than ever into neighbourhood policing – those officers will be highly visible on the streets of Hackney, working hard to reduce crime and catching criminals to make Hackney a safer place.

“Safer neighbourhood teams will investigate crime in neighbourhoods that blight people’s lives on a daily basis such as criminal damage and anti-social behaviour.

“They will take a broad role in cutting crime and tackling offending.

“Each of the four neighbourhood areas will be led by an experienced inspector.”

From next week there will be 100 neighbourhood officers serving the SNTs.

The neighbourhood teams will operate from 7am to 2am from Sunday to Wednesday and from 7am to 5am on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Borough commander Matthew Horne added: “The additional officers and changes to their working patterns will mean that SNTs will be available later into the evenings and on duty over the weekends at the peak times identified as having the potential for anti-social behaviour and crime.

“They will be responsible for problem solving and crime prevention in their areas and will respond to and investigate more crime and anti-social behaviour and ensure victim’s needs are met.”

Members of the public can contact SNTs directly through four contact points every Wednesday and Thursday evenings between 7pm and 8pm and every Saturday between 2pm and 3pm:

• Shacklewell Lane, 17-19 Shacklewell Lane, E8 2DA

• Homerton University Hospital, Homerton Row, E9 6SR

• 70 Blackstock Road, Highbury, N4 2DR (Shared with Islington)

• Haggerston Road, London E8 4HT

There are also a number of surgeries being held at various locations around the borough. For more information, visit content.met.police.uk/Borough/Hackney.