Sadiq Khan has finally said he takes responsibility for the surge in violent crime in London and called for around 6,000 more police officers to patrol the capital’s streets.
The Mayor of London was on LBC today being grilled on the huge increase in knife and gun crime in the capital.
He said: “I’m the Mayor of London, I’m the Police and Crime Commissioner – I accept responsibility for what happens in our city.
Sadiq Khan: “I am the Mayor. I am the Police and Crime Commissioner. I take responsibility for the rise in violent crime. But I’m not going to apologise for putting it in context around the country.” #SpeakToSadiq https://t.co/BFkcWnRHvg
— LBC (@LBC) June 7, 2018
“Security is the biggest concern I have, it’s the one thing that keeps me up at night – whether it’s terrorism threats, whether it’s the surge in serious violent crime.”
He’s pinning most of the blame on central government and called for officer numbers in London to increase to around 36,000 – there are currently around 30,000 officers in the capital.
London is now more dangerous than New York, and when quizzed on that, Khan said: “New York has a smaller population than us, but they have 36,000 police officers, but 8,000 additional staff.
“36,000 would be the ideal scenario, but any increase from the government would be welcome.”