'Use Banksy To Help Police Charities'

16 August 2024

The Banksy artwork that appeared in a police entry point box should be used to raise money for police charities, City of London Police Federation has said.

The artwork, featuring piranhas on the inside of a City of London police entry point box, appeared in the City on Sunday 11 August and has since been moved to Guildhall Yard.

And Mike Reed, Chair of the City of London Police Federation, has said police charities should benefit financially from the artwork, which was installed inside a box designed to keep police officers safe while dealing with IRA terrorist attacks in the 1990s.

Mike said: “Officers have stood in and used these ‘boxes’ to protect the City, initially from domestic terrorism but also more recently to reduce crime.

“Officers would be deployed against a dangerous and ruthless group of terrorists in shirt sleeves and a wooden truncheon. In a modern, risk-aware environment, the mind boggles thinking about the vulnerability that officers were exposed to in that task.

“The only protection they were afforded was from the elements, not the weapons they may have come up against, and that was by the introduction of the entry point boxes.

“Crude and cold in winter, wet depending on the direction of the rain, and like an oven on a summer’s day – but they were ‘ours’.

“A small relief or comfort while undertaking your duty. A small piece of psychological security while knowing the risk to your own life.

“So for me with that provenance in mind there really is only one thing that should be done with the Banksy Box. That is to use it to recognise and pay respect to the countless hours and dutifully policing that has kept the City safe, by donating it to the City Police charities who afford some comfort and security to those who have stood firm in these boxes over the years.

“These charities are struggling to raise funds in recent times and an input of cash would allow them to continue in a financially tough world.

“The Met & City Orphans Fund; The City of London Police Children Charity and The City of London Police Benevolent Fund should all be the beneficiary from an object that is intrinsically linked to how they have kept us safe.”