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- So far in 2018, 62 murders have been recorded by the Met in London
- Of these, 39 were knife crimes and ten gun crimes
- 23 murders were recorded from January-March 2017
- 45 murders were recorded from January-March 2018 [1]
- Half of all victims of knife crime are under 25 [2]
The surge in violent crime has seen a wave of murders across London. In response, the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee has launched an urgent inquiry. The committee wants answers to why the upsurge is happening, why policing tactics are failing and what can be done to keep Londoners safe.
It will also examine the Mayor’s Knife Crime Strategy, the effectiveness of social media and advertising campaigns and the knife detection wands being offered to schools across the capital. The investigation will also look at alternative approaches and how they could work in London.
Chairman of the Police and Crime Committee, Steve O’Connell, said:
“The Mayor and the Met need to take hold of the situation. We are determined to find out what is working and what is not so more families don’t face the heartache of losing a loved one to violent crime and those with perpetrators in their families don’t lose their loved ones to a debilitating life of criminality and violence.
“Londoners are right to question whether gestures and poster adverts are missing their intended target. Violent criminals don’t watch adverts from the Mayor about knife crime. Many young people now live in a culture of fear and feel at risk. They want more than an ad campaign, they want to know that concrete steps are being taken to protect them.“
On April 11, when the murder rate rose beyond 50, the London Assembly requested an urgent update from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, Home Office representative and Crime Director at the Home Office, Daniel Greaves and Met Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt, which, due to election rules was held behind closed doors.
A webcast of the briefing is now available online. At the meeting, AC Martin Hewitt told Members “in the past two weeks 1,200 stop and searches have been carried out”, of which 18 per cent were for weapons. In the year from April 2017 to March 2018, the Met had carried out 22,112 stop and searches for weapons, representing 16.8% of all stop and searches. [3]
Notes to editors
Notes for Editors:
- Met Crime Dashboard
- MOPAC, Justice Matters knife crime presentation, March 2018
- https://www.met.police.uk/stats-and-data/stop-and-search-dashboard/
- London Assembly Police and Crime Committee.
- Members of the committee want to hear from a range people across the capital from those tackling violent crime on the front line, such as the police, hospital workers, paramedics, community groups and families who are dealing with the awful and tragic consequences of the rise of violent crime.
- Steve O’Connell AM, Chairman of the Police and Crime Committee is available for interview. See contact details below.
- As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.
For media enquiries, please contact Howard Wheeler on 020 7983 5769 email [email protected] For out of hours media enquiries, call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the London Assembly duty press officer. Non-media enquiries should be directed to the Public Liaison Unit on 020 7983 4100.