Figures published this week show the impact the Mayor’s cuts to the police service have had at a local level.
In the last two years the number of police officers based in the London boroughs has reduced from 20,599 in March 2010 to 19,131 last December.
Boris’s record in government has been one of cuts.
Today we can see that in less than two years this has amounted to a loss of nearly 1,500 local police officers (see chart below) and a further 200 officers based in New Scotland Yard.
But we must put this in its full context.
While overall crime in London has reduced by 1% in the last year, certain types of crime have risen.
Crimes such as burglary and muggings have all risen as the impact of the recession really begins to bite.
As crimes are rising we need more police on our streets, not less.
So rather than embracing the government’s cuts to the police we need a Mayor who will make sure we have enough police on our streets. That’s why I’m calling on the Mayor to protect the police to help keep our streets safe for all of us.
Most alarmingly, robbery and knife crime in the capital has increased by 13% in the twelve months leading up to October last year. This, remember, was the issue that, above all others, the Mayor made such great play of tackling prior to his election.
I wonder if he’ll discuss it much before this May’s election.
| Borough | 31-Mar-10 | 01-Dec-11 | Reduction |
| Barking & Dagenham | 446.34 | 430.54 | 15.8 |
| Barnet | 592.19 | 552.12 | 40.07 |
| Bexley | 405.3 | 376.96 | 28.34 |
| Brent | 703.63 | 665.53 | 38.1 |
| Bromley | 523.53 | 486.58 | 36.95 |
| Camden | 879.42 | 782.62 | 96.8 |
| Croydon | 746.78 | 681.88 | 64.9 |
| Ealing | 723.78 | 706.63 | 17.15 |
| Enfield | 595.15 | 562.03 | 33.12 |
| Greenwich | 705 | 621.75 | 83.25 |
| Hackney | 772.55 | 733.35 | 39.2 |
| Hammersmith & Fulham | 593.73 | 588.43 | 5.3 |
| Haringey | 729.27 | 686.67 | 42.6 |
| Harrow | 403.06 | 363.05 | 40.01 |
| Havering | 390.87 | 374.32 | 16.55 |
| Hillingdon | 521.49 | 517.97 | 3.52 |
| Hounslow | 530.26 | 499.36 | 30.9 |
| Islington | 714.07 | 672 | 42.07 |
| Kensington & Chelsea | 575.65 | 541.46 | 34.19 |
| Kingston upon Thames | 329.73 | 295.36 | 34.37 |
| Lambeth | 1,038.42 | 921.4 | 117.02 |
| Lewisham | 681.51 | 628.6 | 52.91 |
| Merton | 393.17 | 366.16 | 27.01 |
| Newham | 816.1 | 775.94 | 40.16 |
| Redbridge | 498.11 | 470.8 | 27.31 |
| Richmond upon Thames | 333.95 | 296.97 | 36.98 |
| Southwark | 958.83 | 852.71 | 106.12 |
| Sutton | 354.48 | 335.57 | 18.91 |
| Tower Hamlets | 820.72 | 744.35 | 76.37 |
| Waltham Forest | 576.74 | 546.07 | 30.67 |
| Wandsworth | 613.81 | 600.05 | 13.76 |
| Westminster | 1,631.84 | 1,453.81 | 178.03 |
| Borough Total | 20,599.46 | 19,131.01 | 1,468.45 |
| Figures provided by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime. | |||
Nicky Gavron AM
Nicky Gavron is a member of the London Assembly and Labour Group spokesperson for housing and planning
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