Worse than Big Apple for first time
LONDON’S murder rate has topped New York’s for the first time as knife killing cases continue to surge.
There were 15 killings in the capital in February compared with 14 in the Big Apple. And in March, London notched 23 deaths against the US city’s 21.
A stabbing in London in the early hours of yesterday brought the number of murders so far this year to 46 – 31 of them through knife attacks.
The 20-year-old victim was targeted moments after leaving a bar and died in the street in Wandsworth. A 21-year-old was arrested on suspicion of murder.
It came days after two men were knifed to death within 12 hours of each other. Between March 14 and 20 alone, eight Londoners were murdered.
Even excluding victims of terror attacks, the total number of murders in London has risen 38% since 2014.
The capital still had nine fewer total murders this year – New York recorded 55 – and its total in 2017 was also lower. But the gap is closing annually.
Both cities have populations of around 8.5 million but New York’s murder rate has plunged by around 87% since the 1990s. Jacob Whittingham, charity head of programmes for Fight for Peace, said: “What’s scary about London is the randomness of the crime.
“With young people in London, you have no idea if and when you may be the victim of a violent crime — that’s why they feel the need to carry weapons.”
FBI data and studies by the University of California show that since 1800, London has had a murder rate per person of between half and a 20th of New York’s. Many attribute the recent dramatic fall in New York’s murder rate to its “get-tough” policies under the city’s former mayor, Rudolph Giuliani.
His most prominent policy change was the aggressive policing of lower-level crimes. It was dubbed the “broken windows” approach to law Police in New York have slashed murder rates enforcement, with the idea that small disorders lead to larger ones.
Mr Guiliani previously said: “Murder and graffiti are two vastly different crimes. But they are part of the same continuum and a climate that tolerates one is more likely to tolerate the other.”
Current Mayor Bill de Blasio credits recent drops in crime to police emphasis on going after the relatively small groups, mostly gangs and repeat offenders, believed to be responsible for most crime, while building relationships in communities where trust is strained.
Met Police commissioner Cressida Dick has blamed crime rises on social media rows escalating into violence.
The murder capital of the world in 2017 was Los Cabos in Mexico, where 111 were killed per 100,000 people. Caracas in Venezuela was second and Acapulco, also in Mexico, was third with 106 murders per 100,000.
The top 50 dangerous cities are dominated by South and Central American nations. The US has three entries with St Louis, Missouri, on 65 murders per 100,000, New Orleans 40 and Detroit 39.
killings in London in February compared to 14 in New York
killings in the UK capital in March with 21 in the US city