I support wholeheartedly Enfield Borough Council’s lobbying of the Mayor of London Boris Johnson to keep 25 extra police officers in the borough (‘Calls made to keep extra officers’, Enfield Independent, October 8).

Their work in helping to reduce crime and disorder in Enfield shows that the best way to cut crime is to have bobbies on the beat, deterring people from breaking the law in the first place.

Despite Boris Johnson’s pledge to put 1,000 extra police on the beat London-wide in his 2012 election manifesto, police numbers have dropped dramatically. Since the last general election, we have seen two of our police stations shut and lost over 100 police officers and PCSOs in the borough.

We can’t afford to lose anymore.

It is vital for the health and wellbeing of our community that we are able to feel safe in our homes and on our streets. Therefore, it is so important for Enfield to secure the additional resources and to ensure crime does not escalate. Cutting crime must take priority over cutting the police.

Joan Ryan

Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Enfield North