LONDON IN CRISIS: ‘Police need to be VISIBLE’ Former Met boss blasts response to deaths
FORMER Met Police Commissioner Lord Blair called for Scotland Yard to be provided with extra resources to deploy officers on London streets in an effort to tackle the crime epidemic that saw 56 Londoners dead since the start of the year.
By AURORA BOSOTTI
Express.co.uk
Sat, Apr 7, 2018
The former Scotland Yard chief claimed the spike in violent crime plaguing London is linked to a lack of funding, meaning fewer officers are available to patrol the streets.
He urged the Government to intervene in order to cut down response crime and help local communities create projects aimed at tackling knife and gun crime.
Lord Blair told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “The Met is facing enormous problems with terrorism and this has resulted in a path of not having enough officers visible on the streets.
“They have to be walking, there’s no point of having people driving cars.”
London’s death toll this year rose to over 50 this week after a man in his 20s was stabbed to death in Hackney.
Six teenagers were also stabbed in just two hours in a spate of knife attacks across London on Thursday night.
Lord Blair continued: “If you look at some of the statistics that have come out on how long it’s taking people, how much it takes the police to answer some 999 calls, that indicates to me that the beat bobbies are almost gone because everybody is going to be in a car rushing to the next call.
“The Government should understand that this is a long-term problem which needs funding for police, funding for local authorities, funding for health to deal with this problem.
“If you take 20% of the Met’s money away, something gives and the thing that has given is neighbourhood policing.”
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