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Mayor joins local neighbourhood policing teams working to keep London’s communities safe

Created on
11 November 2022

Mayor joins local neighbourhood policing teams working to keep London’s communities safe

  • Crime figures show knife crime, gun crime and teenage murders have reduced in the capital, but Mayor says still far too high
  • Prevention and early intervention work led by the Mayor of London's Violence Reduction Unit is making a difference alongside the Met’s priority to tackle violence
  • Mayor and Met working together to suppress violence and make all of London’s communities safer
  • Mayor repeats warning that the cost of living crisis could jeopardise progress made

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan and the Met’s head of Frontline Policing Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe joined local neighbourhood police officers on patrol in Peckham Town Centre yesterday to see first-hand the work being done by the police around the clock to keep Londoners safe. 
 
With the nights drawing in earlier, Town Centre, Neighbourhood, Response Teams officers and the City Hall funded Violent Crime Taskforce are working hard to suppress violence, take weapons off our street and engage with all of London’s communities to prevent and reduce crime.
 
The Met are targeting the most dangerous offenders, maximising diversion opportunities and increasing their presence through targeted patrols in key hotspots across London’s communities.
 
The renewed focus follows the pledge from the Mayor and Sir Mark Rowley to get the basics of policing right, and for officers to be in the right place at the right time when and where the public need them most. 
 
As a result of the Mayor’s focus on tackling violent crime and its underlying causes, and the hard work of police officers and youth workers across the capital, the level of knife crime and violence in London has been decreasing since before the pandemic.1 But the Mayor believes violent crime is still far too high and warned in June that the cost of living crisis, which is impacting huge numbers of Londoners and some of the most vulnerable groups in our society, could jeopardise the progress that’s been made. 3
 
London’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) is leading a partnership approach to tackling violence that is rooted in prevention and early intervention. This year, with support from the Mayor, the VRU is investing in positive opportunities for 70,000 young Londoners.
 
With hundreds of thousands of Londoners being impacted by the cost-of-living crisis and low-income families in the capital being hit hardest as food and energy bills soar, the Mayor is determined to work with the Met and partners to keep everyone safe.
 
With a record 34,542 officers, both the Met and City Hall are committed to doing everything possible to restore trust and confidence in the police, improve the support for victims of crime, and build on the success made in driving down violence and crime in our city to build a safer London for everyone.
 
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, said: “Tackling violence is my top priority and I’m determined to continue leading from the front in London by being tough on crime and tough on its complex causes.
 
“Record investment from City Hall in the Met and London’s Violence Reduction Unit has meant violence in the capital has reduced since 2016, with knife crime with injury among under-25s, gun crime, burglary and teenage homicides all falling. But more must be done. It’s clear the level of violence in London remains far too high and I remain very concerned that the cost of living crisis could jeopardise the progress we’ve made. 
 
“That’s why I am continuing to take action by supporting our hardworking police officers to keep our city safe and investing record amounts in initiatives through London’s Violence Reduction Unit to support young Londoners at critical stages in their lives.
 
“The officers I’ve been out with today are part of 650 Town Centre and Safer Neighbourhood police officers directly funded by City Hall to take weapons off our streets, drive down violence and be there when the public needs them most so we can build a safer London for everyone.”
 
Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe, said: “We are working every day to fight and bring down crime. Tackling violence is a team effort and our work with the Mayor of London’s Violence Reduction Unit is crucial to this.  
 
“Our role as police is to work alongside communities and partners and understand what affects them most. We are also using data in new ways to ensure we are in the right place to protect those most in need, and we are going after offenders, including men who commit violence in the home and on the streets. 
 
“All this is part of regaining and earning trust and having a visible presence in areas with higher levels of violence is also what Londoners rightly expect of us. By doing this work, we are building on our relationships with communities and ensuring our neighbourhood policing provides the quality service people deserve. 
 
“We are clear that we are proactively and forensically targeting the drivers of violent crime, and this week, specialist teams have been tackling high-harm offenders involved in supplying drugs across London, including in Southwark. This builds on the success of the Met’s county lines response and is aimed at dismantling intra-London class A drug lines. This way of working brings together the skills and experience of Specialist Crime officers with the knowledge and expertise of local officers.
 
“Our job is to make it harder for violent and predatory people, drug dealers, criminals and those involved in organised crime to operate.
 
“We are also clear that violent crime cannot be solved by policing alone and everyone in the community can play a part.”


Notes to editors

1. Crimes which have fallen over the total of the Mayoralty (twelve-month period to May 2016 as compared to twelve-month period to October 2022)

  • Knife crime with injury down 6%
  • Knife crime with injury under 25 down 22%  
  • Gun crime down 21%  
  • Burglary down 23%  

2. The rate of violence per 1,000 of the population is lower in London (26.97) than the average across England and Wales (35.56) and considerably lower than most similar sized forces nationally (52.53) according to the latest ONS crime stats.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingjune2022.

3. City Hall analysis on the causes of violence highlighted correlations between deprivation, poverty and vulnerability to crime, with six of 10 boroughs with the highest increases in unemployment over the pandemic being represented in the top 10 boroughs for serious violence. The analysis also highlighted the relationship between food insecurity and crime, with seven of the boroughs with the largest increase in demand for food parcels from the Trussell Trust in 2020/21 also in the top 10 for serious violence. Additional analysis published by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime highlighted research that shows a relationship between increasing unemployment rates and rises in crime, especially property crime. City Hall analysis conducted last year highlighted correlations between deprivation, poverty and vulnerability to crime: (https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/serious-youth-violence).
 
4. As Mayor, Sadiq has consistently supported the police in bearing down on criminality and taking weapons off the streets by providing a record £1bn investment in policing since taking office, which has funded 1,300 more police officers to help suppress violence in local areas. He has helped elevate police officer numbers to their highest levels in history (34,542) and established the Met’s Violent Crime Taskforce, which is working around the clock to target the most dangerous offenders.

5. Sadiq set up the first Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) in England and Wales in 2019 to lead an approach to tackling violence rooted in prevention and early intervention. The VRU uses research, data and intelligence to better understand the causes and drivers of violence. It is investing in programmes which provide activities, guidance and positive opportunities for more than 70,000 young people, their families and communities. The VRU is also working to tackle school exclusions and championing the vital role of youth work in violence reduction as well as helping the Mayor deliver on a flagship manifesto pledge to give every young Londoner in need access to a dedicated mentor by 2024. This work includes a focus on supporting young people with positive opportunities outside of school and at weekends. The Stronger Futures programme4 has engaged with nearly 2,500 children and young people, with almost 800 reporting improved mental health and wellbeing, 380 feeling safer and more engaged in their local community, and 216 reporting reduced reoffending, violence or victimisation. This approach has led to violence falling since before the pandemic, however there is still much more work to do and the Mayor is determined to redouble efforts in London in the face of the cost of living crisis, working with the police, communities and prevention services to learn from what’s working so that we can continue to reduce violence in our city.
 

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