Crime facts

• of all the regions in England and Wales, London has the highest level of recorded crime at 124 offences per 1,000 population (1)
  
  
• between 1999 and 2007, overall (police recorded) crime in London fell by 12 per cent, although violent crime increased by 17 per cent over the same period (2)
  
  
• the most commonly reported hate crime in London in 2006/07 was racist crime (9,976 reports), followed by homophobic crime (1,184 incidents) and faith crime (696 incidents) (3)
  
  
• the Metropolitan Police Service employs 30,871 police officers, 13,769 police staff, 400 traffic wardens, 2,308 police community support officers and 1,070 'specials' (4)
  
  
• there are 4.6 uniformed police officers per 1,000 Londoners (5)
  
  
• 54 per cent of Londoners say that crime is one of their top three personal concerns, this rises to 61 per cent for 18-34 year-olds (6)
  
  
• 45 per cent of all recorded robberies in England and Wales in 2006/07 occurred in London (7)
  
  
• the Metropolitan Police Service's Operation Trident, set up to combat black on black gun crime, seized a total of 917 firearms in 2006/07 (8)
  

Sources

(1) Home Office statistical bulletin, Crime in England and Wales 2006/07 (4th edition), July 2007
(2) Community Safety Quarterly report, Mayor of London, Aug 2007
(3) ibid
(4)www.met.police.uk/local Opens in a new window
(5) Community Safety Quarterly report, Mayor of London, Aug 2007
(6) London Councils' survey of Londoners 2007/08
(7) Home Office statistical bulletin, Crime in England and Wales 2006/07 (4th edition), July 2007
(8) Operation Trident,www.stoptheguns.org Opens in a new window