MAKING LONDON SAFER 1 We are lucky to live in the greatest city on earth. But after ten years of a Labour government, and eight years of a Labour Mayor, we need to stop kidding ourselves about crime. We have a Home Secretary who says she is frightened to walk the streets of Peckham. We have had 27 teenagers murdered by other kids in 2007. We have seen a steady and undisputed rise in robbery, violence against the person and other violent crimes.1 And we all know that we are suffering from an epidemic of unreported crime. Bitter experience has taught us that too often the police do not have the time or the resources to deal with our case. So what can we do? We could perhaps shrug our shoulders and say that crime, disorder and incivility are just a part of city life. We could turn a blind eye to the robberies and the muggings, and hope that no one we love will be a victim. We could throw up our hands, in the manner of the current Labour Mayor, and say that these problems are beyond our control – caused by television and the glamorising of violence. We could accept defeat. We could declare that we have run out of ideas. Or we could say that enough is enough. The Mayor of London has a statutory and moral duty to lead the fight-back against crime. I reject the fatalism and defeatism of the Labour Mayor. I reject the assumption that we can do nothing. I believe that by systematically tackling small crimes we can drive out more serious crime. I believe that we can change the lives of kids who would otherwise be sucked into a nightmarish culture of violence and criminality. 1 The figures released by the Mayor’s office on 16 January 2008 show that: Robbery was higher in 2007 than in 1999. Violence against the person was higher in 2007 than in 1999 and 2000. Violent crime in total was higher in 2007 than in 1999 and 2000. Murder was higher in 2007 than in 1999. 2 As soon as I become Mayor I will take action, and implement the following measures: My Pledges I will: 1. Provide strong leadership • By taking responsibility and chairing the Metropolitan Police Authority and using my influence to tear up red tape and needless form-filling, so we can get more police out on the streets. 2. Make buses, trains and stations safer • By spending less money on press officers and more money on police officers to increase their presence on buses, trains and station platforms. • By introducing ‘Payback London’, a scheme that will require under 18s who abuse their right to free bus travel to earn it back through community service projects. 3. Tackle knife and gun crimes • By demanding they are treated as a high priority by the police, and using every strand of Mayoral power to prevent it through funding community groups, sports schemes and handheld weapon scanners. 4. Help the ignored victims of sexual violence • By providing desperately needed long-term funding for new Rape Crisis Centres to help the ignored victims of sexual violence – a horrendous crime that is on the increase. 5. Demand a police service accountable to you • By providing local communities with New York-style crime maps which show the true crime levels in every neighbourhood, which can then be used to ensure Borough Commanders are held to account at monthly open public meetings. 3 What We Need To Do It is important for the Mayor to take a public lead, so I will chair the Metropolitan Police Authority. I will take personal responsibility. No offence will be too trivial to demand my attention. No challenge will be so big that I shrug my shoulders and pass the buck. The fundamental problem with policing in London is that there is a lack of strong leadership, and our police force is hamstrung by political targets and excessive form-filling. This has resulted in a city we no longer feel safe in, and extra officers we do not see. We have seen a massive increase in incivility, and a growing apathy towards – and even tolerance of – the kind of low-level crime that, unchecked, eventually leads to more serious crime. I believe the solution lies in taking responsibility and providing strong leadership to enable the police to do their jobs. We need to sweep away the target-driven culture so they can spend more time on the streets. They join the force to catch criminals, not to push paper around a desk. That is what Londoners want too. Yet the time spent by Metropolitan Police officers on the front-line has been steadily falling for years.2 Ken Livingstone may talk about more police, but he is doing nothing to halt the tide of bureaucracy that is keeping them off the streets. Every time a police officer stops someone in the street, they have to fill in a form which is a foot long, and can take up to 25 minutes each time. This is an indefensible waste of time. I support scrapping this form, and I will lobby the government hard to make it happen. I will use my influence as Mayor and chair of the MPA to reduce the burden of form-filling. I also want to look at other measures that reduce this burden, such as using PCSOs to help reduce the administrative burden. We need to spend less on press officers, and more on police officers. We need to redirect more resources to frontline policing. It is also important we have the highest levels of preparedness and the resources necessary to protect Londoners against terrorism. I will ensure that we get the funding necessary from government, and that we are always ready. 2 Hansard, cols 90W and 91W, 10 December 2007. 4 Tackling Crime on Buses, Trains and Stations We need to defeat the kind of low-level crime committed on public transport that makes people’s lives a misery, and often leads to more serious crimes. It is simply unacceptable that gangs treat buses as glorified getaway vehicles, and that passengers have to endure being spat at, verbally abused or worse. I want to launch a trial of live CCTV on buses. It would last six months, and cost around £150,000. This will enable the police to see instantly what is happening when a driver makes a ‘code red’ call, and they will be able to respond swiftly. I believe we need a more visible police presence on buses, trains and at transport hubs such as bus stops and rail platforms. This is why I will release funds that Ken Livingstone has earmarked for MPA advertising and press officers to be spent on approximately 50 extra fully-warranted British Transport Police Officers to patrol the worst stations in outer London. I will also release funds that Ken Livingstone has earmarked for Transport for London advertising and press officers to be spent on approximately 440 PCSOs to be added to the existing Safer Transport Teams, doubling their strength. I think it’s great that under 18s can travel on our buses for free, and the vast majority do not abuse that right. However, there is a growing minority that do abuse that right; who intimidate other passengers through threatening and anti-social behaviour. I believe the right to travel for free on buses must be balanced with the responsibility to behave with respect for other passengers. If those responsibilities are ignored, I will take away that right to free travel from those who abuse it and I will expect them to earn it back by doing work with existing community payback schemes, like cleaning up graffiti or volunteering in community centres. Persistent fare dodgers are likely to be responsible for more serious crimes. In fact, a recent survey has shown that as many as one in ten offenders caught in the act of committing petty offences such as fare evasion are likely to be responsible for more serious offences.3 I believe the current enforcement regime is weak and ineffective. Too many people get away with not paying, and too much revenue that could be used to reduce fares is lost. It cannot be right that ticket inspectors do not have the basic power to compel someone to provide their name and address. 3 TfL Community Safety Plan 2007/8 p15 and TfL Report ‘Crime and Disorder on Buses’ p20. 5 I will ask Transport for London and the MPA to investigate giving Revenue Protection Inspectors this power, so more persistent fare dodgers are caught. The phasing out of bendy buses, to which I am committed, will end open boarding, and end the era of the ‘free bus’. Tackling Knife and Gun Crime There are far, far too many guns and knives on our streets. It is clear that they are often used in the heat of the moment – so any time they are being carried tragedies are waiting to happen. This is why I believe we have to make it easier for the police to stop and search. Current rules designed to protect ethnic minorities are now tragically failing them – it is kids from these backgrounds who are most at risk of being victims.4 This is why I will also provide the resources for the police to have more handheld weapons scanners, to be deployed at key locations such as major transport hubs and large-scale public events. Use of such scanners make the likelihood of being caught in transit with a knife or gun much more likely, and will deter people from carrying them in the first place.