News from London Assembly Labour

Home Office confirms Boris Johnson has cut the police

Home Office data published today shows police numbers are falling sharply in London. According to the Home Office there were 31,657 Metropolitan police officers in September 2011, a fall of 1,243 from September 2010. This represents a fall 3.8% over the year.

The decline in police numbers under Boris Johnson is accelerating, with 784 fewer police in the latest 6 months alone. And, in separate, slightly more up-to-date data from the Metropolitan Police Authority the decline continued into October 2011. Two days ago Boris Johnson admitted to LBC listeners that police numbers have fallen during his mayoral term. The latest figures from the Metropolitan Police Authority confirmed that Boris Johnson cut 1,782 police officers in the last 18 months. Yesterday, at Mayoral Question Time the Tory Mayor reverted to his previous stance arguing that police numbers are not falling.

These Home Office data definitively show that police numbers are falling. In fact they have fallen from their peak level of 33,260 in 2009/10 – a level of policing Boris Johnson inherited from Ken Livingstone’s budget.

A spokesperson for Ken Livingstone said: “This time last year Boris Johnson promised to increase the number of police officers in London by this year. Today’s Home Office figures show police numbers in London have fallen while violent crimes including knife crime, robbery, rape and murder have all risen.”

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