This week Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced a welcome boost in the fight against violent crime in across London. 122 officers are being temporarily moved from the Met's Roads and Transport Policing Command to join the City Hall funded Violent Crime Taskforce.
Jon Cruddas MP commends this move but explains that "whilst this is a welcome move, it is not the solution. The Mayor of London shouldn't be in a position where he has to move resources around to plug the gaps. Addressing violent crime should be higher up the Government's priority list but their constant refusal to invest in policing shows the Tories up for what they are; the party of crime and disorder."
The Violent Crime Taskforce was launched in April using £15 million of additional funding from City Hall and has so far made 895 arrests, carried out 1400 weapons sweeps, removed 212 knives and removed nearly 200 offensive weapons from our streets. Bolstering the Taskforce from its current 150 officers to 272 will allow the Met to be even more proactive on the streets of the capital, bearing down on violent crime and serious criminality.
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: "The causes of violent crime are extremely complex, and involve culture, community, gangs, drugs, poverty and a lack of opportunities and have been made much worse by the Government's huge cuts to the Metropolitan Police and youth services across our city, resulting in police numbers falling to the lowest level in 20 years. Cuts really do have consequences."
Jon added: "it is the lack of investment from Government, and the growing necessity for desperate measures that has led me to launch my ?Calling Time on Crime' campaign. Over the coming weeks I will be speaking with neighbouring areas in the local BCU, in the hope of expanding the campaign. The end game is to demand that Theresa May and her Home Office invest more in our police ? that means more resources and more officers trained to deal with the changing nature of crime."
You can fill out Jon's survey and sign the petition HERE
Share on social media using the hashtag #CallingTimeOnCrime and the infographic found HERE
You can also request a paper petition to collect signatures down your street by emailing andrew.achilleos@parliament.uk