Local London Assembly member John Biggs today called on Mayor Boris Johnson to get a grip on increasing crime on Tower Hamlets' buses as the latest figures show a 51.61% rise in the last nine months
The latest figures released by Transport for London show that across London robbery on buses has increased by an average of 18.2%. At the same time figures released by the Metropolitan Police reveal that up to half of the officers who are supposed to police the London transport network are not even in post.
The Met figures show that the Safer Transport Team for Tower Hamlets has a vacancy rate of 45%. This means that even though there is money in the budget, officers have not been recruited to these posts.
Local Labour Assembly member John Biggs said: “The dramatic rise of over 51% in robberies on the Borough’s buses is deeply concerning. While it is good news that other types of crime are falling, it is very worrying that this type of violent crime is rising. It is even more worrying that the Police’s Safer Transport Teams are chronically understaffed. The police do an excellent job keeping us safe, but how are they supposed to their job properly if they are so thinly stretched?”
The revelations follow the news that in the past two years Mayor Boris Johnson has cut 1,700 police officers.
In Tower Hamlets:-
- There are 9 vacancies in the Safer Transport Team, which is 45% of the planned numbers
- In the last nine months there were 47 robberies on buses in Tower Hamlets
- In the same period in 2010 there were 31
Notes:
- John Biggs is the London Assembly member for City and East, covering the boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Newham, Barking & Dagenham and the City of London.
2 Bus crime statistics can be found here: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/policing/16192.aspx
3.Met Police Safer Transport Team numbers and vacancy rates can be found in answer to a question to the Mayor from Labour Assembly Member Joanne McCartney http://mqt.london.gov.uk/mqt/public/question.do?id=38896
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