Nikita Malik is Head of Work and Opportunity at the Centre for Social Justice.
Londoners are under attack. The latest polling for the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) in our report, Serious Violence in London, reveals nearly one in four Londoners (22 per cent) have been attacked or threatened with violence in the last five years, and 13 per cent know someone at risk from gangs, knife crime, gun crime, or other serious violence.
This story is not unique to the capital. Our Social Justice Commission, which spoke to hundreds of frontline charities across the country, recently reported that crime is overwhelmingly identified as the worst thing about living in an area.
Sadiq Khan, as Mayor of London, is responsible for overseeing the work of the Metropolitan Police and setting priorities for policing and community safety. No surprise that he has leapt on police figures report that knife crime and homicide offences in the capital were lower in 2023 than in 2019.
However, some of this reduction can be attributed to Covid-19 (when people were forced to stay at home) while knife crime offences, in particular, have been steadily rising since the pandemic.
Worryingly, less crime is reported to police than publicly-available data suggests actually takes place. At a national level, previous research by the CSJ highlights public disillusionment with the criminal justice system, with few convinced that police and courts will do anything to tackle crime.
This trend is worsened by the fact that so-called low-level crimes (burglary, drug dealing, and anti-social behaviour) also occur with higher frequency. The public’s perception that these crimes are not dealt with increases fear that local areas where people live are not safe.
These are hardly impressive results – especially in light of the estimated £7 billion serious violence cost the capital last year. So what can be done? Or, put another way, what isn’t being done?
Stop and search, one of the most effective preventative techniques in the crime-reduction toolkit, has seen a drastic reduction in use by police forces. This is not because of any change in legislation, but rather a combination of shrinking police budgets, reduced officer numbers, an inability to retain talent – and clear political messaging from lobby groups and the Mayor.
Khan has failed to deliver on his promise of a city-wide study on stop and search. Instead, despite the majority of people (63 per cent) supporting the strategy, use has fallen over the past five years.
It is vital for public confidence that alleged racial disparities in the use of stop and search are understood and explained; if there is no explanation, then they should be tackled. Public trust in the police can be rebuilt, and crime better reported, if people believe it can be prevented and handled appropriately.
We also need to urgently improve relationships between the public and the police. Our polling found that Londoners want the police better connected with young people in the capital. The two most popular requests were for the police to be on foot and accessible in the local area more often (51 per cent), and to visit secondary schools more often (36 per cent).
There are different ways this could be done. Forces could, alongside local charities, support schools toward delivering initiatives such as the CSJ’s proposed enrichment guarantee and improved access to sports and fitness facilities. The next mayor could also spend some of his or her resources ensuring that all secondary schools and colleges in London are affiliated to a Volunteer Police Cadet programme.
A better relationship between the people and the police may in fact result in greater reporting of crime, as people feel confident that justice will be served. But it’s only through understanding the true extent of the cycle of fear and violence in our city that the next Mayor can begin to tackle it.
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Author: Nikita Malik
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