The exhibition is being put on by the Safer Sutton Partnership Service (SSPS) – a joint team of Sutton Council and Met Police officers at Sutton Police Station.

Sutton Council made local Government history when it decided to set up the SSPS to bring together its community safety services with those of the Met Police under a single management in January 2005. The purpose of this ground-breaking decision was to make the borough even safer.

It marked the start of a partnership that today not only manages a wide range of community safety services but also leads many statutory, voluntary and charitable organisations to work together to address residents’ issues and concerns. SSPS services include:

– the borough’s CCTV system, which is monitored 24/7 by Met Police trained operators in the police control room
– the Safer Parks police teams, which police the borough’s extensive parks and open spaces
– the borough Anti-Social Behaviour Unit which provides a prompt response to calls about anti-social behaviour
– the borough’s One Stop Shop, which provides advice and support to victims of domestic abuse

Over the last ten years, overall crime in Sutton has fallen by 35%. Today, Sutton is a low crime borough and one of the safest boroughs in London.

The exhibition features a series of display boards highlighting the SSPS’s key services and activities. It also includes comments from people who have worked for or with the SSPS to change the lives of residents for the better – including a surgeon who saved the life of a patient because of help from Safer Parks police officers.

SSPS Manager Glenn Phillips commented: “Our 10^th anniversary exhibition is not so much a history of the SSPS but rather an explanation of how Council and Police officers work together every day in a variety of ways to reduce crime and keep residents safe.”