Sadiq Khan has warned police officer numbers in London could drop below 27,500 by 2021.
The Mayor of London, launched his strongest warning to date on Government police cuts, as he called on the Chancellor to use next month’s Budget to end the funding crisis which is putting lives at risk at a time of rising crime, rising population and an unprecedented terror threat in the capital.
Sadiq Khan warned that police numbers in London would fall as dangerously low as 27,500 by 2021 without additional funding – the lowest level in 19 years. This would represent one police officer per 326 Londoners compared to one officer per 242 Londoners in 2010 – a fall of 26 per cent.
Last week new figures confirmed that recorded crime across the UK has been rising since 2014. In London, violent crime is increasing and there has been a shift in counter terror demand following four deadly attacks this year.
Yet police force budgets have been reduced in real terms by the Treasury since 2010, while inflation has risen to 2.9 per cent. The Chair of The National Police Chiefs’ Council, Chief Constable Sara Thornton, has warned that Counter Terror funding for policing is being cut by more than seven per cent in real terms over the next three years.
