The homophobic crime rate has continued to rise with nearly 6 offences per day on our capital’s streets.
There are, on average around 6 anti-LGBT offences being recorded every day on London’s streets, a 9.63% increase year on year. In total, 2037 crimes were reported for the year 2016/17 compared to 1861 crimes in 2015 /16 and 1559 in 2014/15.
However, the Metropolitan Police service was keen to point out that the crime rates were lower than five years ago and these current statistics are set against the gruelling austerity measures and “significant reductions in resources” set out by this current government.
Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt, responsible for Territorial Policing, said,
“London is one of the safest global cities in the world. There are few others with such low rates of serious crime, such as murder and gun crime.
“Similar to the rest of England and Wales, crime rates in London are rising, but many of these are still at a much lower level than five years ago and are against the backdrop of significant reductions in resources.
“The crime picture has evolved and so must we in the way we police, recruit and operate. We have an ambitious transformation programme which is already underway and will deliver a 21st century police service for London, strengthening local policing by bringing specialist officers closer to communities.
“We are committed to increasing the amount of neighbourhood officers dedicated to particular areas to engage with the public and work with them to keep them safe; by the end of this year there will be an extra dedicated officer on every ward.
