Violent crime has seen a sharp rise in Richmond Upon Thames, according to Metropolitan Police statistics.
London criminal defence solicitors, Lawtons, brought the figures together using data from the police force’s year-end statistics and the crime data dashboard.
Crime in Richmond saw an increase of 13.85 per cent, the highest when compared to all London boroughs. Harrow, Redbridge and Kingston all saw increases above 10 per cent.
The figures coincide with cuts placed on the Met Police since 2011, where they have had to make £600 million of savings.
This has meant there has been a 30 per cent loss in police staff posts, 65 per cent loss of police community support officers, the closure of 114 police station front counters, 120 police buildings.
Former Met commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said in 2017 that ‘if you drop below 30,000 officers keeping London safe would be challenging, particularly as the city gets bigger’. The 2011 cuts have meant that there are only 29,700 police officers, the lowest in 15 years.
Overall there has been a 6.4 per cent increase in over crime in the last year. Burglary, homicides, knife crimes, rape, robbery, theft and sexual offences have all increased.
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