Police wouldn’t find my stolen car... so I had to, says Tories’ Mayor hope
work in schools, communities, prisons, hospitals, pupil referral units and police custody suites.
The cash, for 2021-’22, is the third year of funding for 18 VRUs across England and Wales.
It brings total investment to more than £105million.
VRUs were set up in areas worst affected by violence.
In their first year of activity, they supported more than 100,000 youngsters.
Assistant Chief Constable Jackie Sebire, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for violence and vulnerability, said the units have made “a significant change” in the last two years.
Also, £2million will support vulnerable young people at risk of involvement in lockdown violence.
EXCLUSIVE
TORY London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey is calling for more police support – after glimpsing first hand how overstretched the force is.
The challenger for City Hall said his car was stolen from outside his house, but officers were unable to help. Instead, he tracked down the vehicle after a tip-off.
In an exclusive interview, Mr Bailey, 49, accuses Labour’s London Mayor Sadiq Khan of allowing crime to surge under the lockdown.
He said: “It left me thinking that the police have got a very tough job. They could do with more boots on the ground. Their big frustration is they lack the time and resources to follow crimes like this. If we don’t
Battle for City Hall... Tory candidate Shaun Bailey, left, has hit out at Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan, right, after a surge in crime
get on top of crime in London, our economy won’t come back.
“We have got to give them the resources they need to do the job.”
Speaking about his car being stolen, he said: “Within 40 minutes I received a text saying there was not enough evidence to follow up.”
A few days later a family friend saw a similar-looking car a few streets away and Mr Bailey found it. Mr Bailey said: “Sadiq Khan is only focused on headline crime. I want to focus on all crimes.
“Burglary, car crime and antisocial behaviour have had a massive spike but he’s done nothing.
“Khan is a risk to London’s recovery.There’s been a 73 per cent rise in robbery under him, a rise in gun crime under lockdown.We have had two years in a row of record levels of homicide under this mayor.”
A London Labour spokeswoman said: “Against the backdrop of Tory austerity, Sadiq has added over 1,000 extra officers to London’s streets and put landmark investment into tackling the root causes of crime and giving young Londoners opportunities, including £85million to tackle violent crime and burglary.”
The election is on May 6.