Policing and safety

As mentioned by several people, knife crime is at an all-time high, its got to the point where I am surprised if I don't hear that some poor soul has been the victim of a stabbing.

For the first time recently, I found myself subconsciously selecting what I was wearing just to go to the local shop after dark, so as not to attract any unwanted attention, and this from a middle-aged male!

What are we doing specifically to combat this ? I hear that some kids feel they have to carry knives to protect themselves from others carrying knives. The penalty for carrying a knife should be the same as gun, as being murdered by either has the same end result. We also need to make sure the VRU and YLF initiatives are well funded, there are some figures above, but there is no breakdown and I can bet its not enough. 

PMW35

Despite a very high level of breakins and thefts from neighbours and our properties the local police do little or nothing to pursue the the thieves.   The constant threat of breakins and need for high levels of expensive protection makes it difficult to relax and enjoy day today life. No doubt the lack of action by the police is due to lack of money. This needs to be addressed.

London is a global centre for world class technology especially AI - which thankfully the Mayor supports and encourages.  Many crimes are facilitated via mobile technology and involve exploitation of young and vulnerable people.  London should collaborate with these young companies to their mutual benefit to introduce preventative measures that will assist policing to flag and reduce some of these issues e.g. radicalisation, weapons, county lines, child sexual exploitation, cyber safety.  

Police forces cannot keep up with cyber crime on their budget - it is simply not possible.

The Mayor's Office needs to find a better way of working with commercial businesses rather than just NGOs and charities to improve citizens safety.

Organisations that should be included in improving Londoners safety - taxi firms, TFL, Mobile Network Operators, Mobile Handset manufacturers, Social Media, Banking Apps, IOT neighbourhood CCTV facilities, London-centric helplines

I regard on improvement in policing as a higher priority than the cost of living. If as a result of knife attack.. you are very severely injured or even die you are not concerned about the cost of living! 

An increased presence of officers on the street is a deterrent and the time wasted by the copious amount of paper work that is landed on the police officers desk must be radically reduced in order to allow the police to spend more time in protecting the public

Fighting knife crime requires much more money than the £5 million. It's a shame in our city that  teenagers are dying weekly. Stop talking and do something.

Our local police station in Ballards Lane shut down several years ago and is set to become another block of flats.

 £5 million is a paltry sum and barely  enough to restore the safety and security of one local area let alone London. The government should do much more and not leave it ti cash starved cities not allowed to use the revenue they generate.

If corporate tax laws were tighter London would have far more to spend. The mayors office should do more to claw back monies from corporations and prevent them from hiving money away in tax havens.

A city that receives millions of tourists, a police station dedicated to crimes affecting them is needed. Now that we don't have police stations anywhere, it is hard to tell them they need to call when they have their wallet and passport stolen. The city needs to be more welcome to visitors as they boost our economy with the money they spend here.

London is rife with drug use, people freely smoke cannabis and offer drugs on the street, reporting this to the police rarely gets more than a symbolic response.  The police need to put more effort into dealing with these smaller anti-social crimes which are rotting society and take them more seriously with really punishment for the criminals.  Dealing with the source isn't necessarily the problem and society needs to reminded that it's also illegal to take most kinds of drugs.  Cannabis is especially an issue in residential areas where people's home lives are disrupted by users in their community, again, the police do nothing about this and take a far too soft approach.  In general smaller crimes are not dealt with robustly giving criminals the signal that it's ok.

Crimes like theft need to be investigated. By not investigating the smaller crime it gives the message that people can get away with stuff. It's exactly the broken window effect. 

You need a much bigger budget!

too many officers doing civilian roles because that keeps police numbers. hire more civilians instead of continuing to cut them to perform those roles and get the officers working again. 

At the very least report the true figures of officers and civilians over the periods concerned there were mass culls of civilians who were replaced by officers because that doesnt look as bad on officer numbers!

There needs to be more visible police on the streets. The number of local convenience stores that employ security on the doors is an example of a lawless city. I've seen people walk in and take food, walk out. The store manager says he contacts the police but they have no resources to investigate. Lawless city in many areas. 

In 2019, London had an increase in murders whereas the average for the country as a whole was lower.  So much for your efforts at reducing crime, what has the VRU been doing?  Not a lot by the looks of it so STOP TALKING ABOUT IT AND DO IT NOW.  It is NOT possible to put a value on human life so you should NOT be making excuses about budget cuts and the like.  More police on the streets would be a major contributor to safety but, of course, less bureaucracy and less paperwork for the police would help as well!

More police on the streets and integrating with local communities.  Where are the members of the VRU?  Are they bureaucrats in City Hall or on the streets? Is the YLF providing LOCAL places for young people to attend? 

I would like to see more police visible and on the ground, not just in town centres but also in our communities. And with more powers to deal with anti social behaviours. The youth these days don't seem to be respectful toward the police. They are not afraid of the consequences that are currently used for crime. Additionally, parents should be made aware of how to control their children. The streets are not safe for us to let our kids out in the evening. This should be a long term project to build better communities and rid the scourge of anti social behaviour once and for all.

Increasing Council Tax on the premise of fighting crime/law and order, is just playing with words. All we will get is yet another increase in staff numbers at city hall.

More police on the streets so that crime is deterred.  Criminals go into restaurants and intimidate staff and get away with it at present.  Visible police officers discourage crime and make  residents feel they belong to a community.

Reopen all the local police stations closed in the recent years and investigate crime. The current procedure of logging crime online and just receive an email saying the case is closed is as good as throwing it into a bin. This deters people from reporting crime in the first place as nothing will be done. While the statistics will show crime reduction, this is not an accurate reflection of reality.