Met Police chief says football clubs should pay for their own policing
Met Police chief says policing football matches costs £70m a year
- Sir Mark Rowley, the Met Police chief, has called for football clubs to contribute more towards the £70 million national cost of policing their matches.
- He advocates a "polluter pays approach," arguing that profit-making events requiring security should be funded by organisers, not local communities.
- Sir Mark also proposed overhauling the UK's 43-force policing system, suggesting a reduction to 12-15 larger regional forces to streamline costs and improve efficiency.
- These proposals come as the Met faces significant job losses, with 3,300 officers and staff cut over the last two years, and concerns about making ends meet with current funding.
- He highlighted that police are increasingly undertaking duties typically handled by other public services, diverting resources from core policing functions like law enforcement and catching criminals.