Over the summer time months, 5 million individuals will go to London, with its free museums and galleries, large occasions that includes the most important names in music and sport, and all the pieces Britain’s capital metropolis has to supply. And, as new figures launched at present present, they’ll find a way to take action realizing London is one of many most secure cities of its measurement on the earth.
On social media, a darkish blizzard of disinformation – a lot of it coordinated and amplified by excessive teams and hostile international actors – has seen bots and trolls depict London as a “lawless” city the place crime goes unpunished and primary social decency has all however disappeared. But let’s deal in information: knowledge printed by the Metropolitan police this morning reveals that nothing may very well be farther from the reality. Across the capital, there have been 35,000 fewer “neighbourhood crimes” – a class which incorporates burglaries, thefts, robberies and automobile crime offences – previously 12 months than within the yr earlier than.
This has not occurred by chance. As mayor I’ve provided a record £1.26bn in funding for the capital’s police power, greater than double the quantity beneath my predecessor. That funding has enabled it to spend money on cutting-edge expertise to maintain tempo with criminals, together with ebikes and drones to pursue telephone snatchers down London’s busy streets, however it has additionally boosted neighbourhood policing in communities throughout our metropolis.
Now, we now have extra proof that our method is yielding actual outcomes. In Westminster – dwelling to many communities and the centre of the capital’s tourism – the place we’ve doubled the variety of law enforcement officials and launched a brand new “command cell” to steer a crackdown on telephone theft and theft, neighbourhood crime has fallen by 36%. In the West End, the beating coronary heart of London’s customer financial system, telephone thefts are down by half.
Since final yr, 1000’s of law enforcement officials throughout our metropolis have been arresting an extra 1,000 suspects each month on common. Their work has been tireless. But the figures additionally replicate the astonishing influence of the violence discount unit (VRU), which I arrange in 2019. When first elected mayor, I promised to be robust on crime and robust on the complicated causes of crime. Through the VRU, we’ve executed just that, offering interventions and constructive alternatives to forestall greater than half 1,000,000 younger individuals from getting caught up in a vicious cycle of violence and exploitation. And notice this: because it was arrange, hospital admissions of younger individuals after knife assault, have fallen by virtually 50%.
To anybody who has hung out on social media – the place narratives describing London as a dangerous metropolis in decline have increased by between 150% and 200% previously two years – or who has seen the continuous adverse press, at present’s outcomes would possibly come as a shock. In fact, although, they’re in keeping with the progress we’ve made on reducing crime proper throughout the board. Last yr, we noticed the fewest murders of these aged beneath 25 this century, and the capital’s murder fee has fallen to the lowest level in recorded history on a per capita foundation. It’s now decrease than that in Berlin, Brussels, Barcelona, Madrid, Milan, Paris – and each US state.
Of course, one sufferer of crime is one too many: we will’t afford to be complacent. Instead, we should stay resolute in tackling all types of criminality. That’s precisely what we’ll proceed to do from City Hall, by offering the Met with the backing it wants and by working arduous to sort out the underlying social and financial situations that could cause crime to flourish.
I perceive why on-line disinformation would possibly make potential vacationers suppose twice about visiting London this summer time. That’s why, at present, I need to ship a transparent message to anybody contemplating coming to the capital: the actual London – the London that thousands and thousands of us know and love – is not the darkish dystopia you see on distorted social media feeds. Diverse, dynamic and affluent, the actual London is one of many most secure megacities within the phrase. These are the information. And this summer time, we’re able to welcome you with open arms.
Sadiq Khan is mayor of London
Do you’ve an opinion on the problems raised on this article? If you want to submit a response of as much as 300 phrases by electronic mail to be thought-about for publication in our letters part, please click here.
