London Violent Crime Could Take a Generation to Solve, Says Mayor
It could take a generation to solve London’s violent crime problem, the city’s Mayor, Sadiq Khan, has warned.
Two teenage boys and two men have been stabbed to death in the city in the last five days, including 15-year-old Jay Hughes.
Khan told the BBC’s Today programme to “really make significant progress can take up to 10 years.”
Home Office Minister Victoria Atkins, said combating violent crime “isn’t just about police numbers”.
There have been 118 homicides in the capital this year, including 73 stabbings and 12 shootings, compared to 116 for the whole of last year.
Jay Hughes, 15, was stabbed to death in a chicken shop on Thursday and Malcolm MideMadariola, 17, was killed outside a Tube station on Friday.
Met Police commander Stuart Cundy said there were “hundreds of additional duty officers on the streets”.
In September, a London Violence Reduction Unit was set up mirroring the approach taken in Glasgow, where violence is treated as a public health issue and “a disease infecting communities”.
According to City Hall figures police coverage in London is at its lowest rate in 20 years with 3.3 police officers for every thousand Londoners - the lowest rate since 1998 and 19% below 2010.
Local leaders need to be more successful in lobbying the government for extra money for policing, Mr Khan said.
The mayor said children as young as primary school age are now carrying knives and warned it could take “a generation” to solve the problem.
He added: “They saw in Scotland what we’re seeing in London which is children in primary school thinking not only is it OK to carry a knife, but it gives them a sense of belonging, joining a criminal gang, it makes them feel safer.
“We need to use all resources at our disposal to address this horror.”