£32m secured to boost neighbourhood policing and reduce tough choices

Message from Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley after announcement of boost to neighbourhood policing on Wednesday 30th July. 

“I am proud of our officers and staff who have worked incredibly hard to build trust, cut crime and raise standards. 
 

“The Met is getting smaller but we are more capable. Each of you have remained committed, passionate and integral to our achievements in driving down crime rates.  
 

“In the second phase of our New Met for London (NMfL) plan, we are continuing this progress and tackling crimes that we know are impacting our communities most. That is why we are putting neighbourhood policing first. 
 

“Thanks to the incredibly hard work of our local teams, neighbourhood crime has fallen by almost a fifth over the last year and having more of you on the frontline will make sure we have a more visible presence on London’s busiest high streets.    
 

“The next three years will be a critical part of the journey, taking us towards being a more effective, more productive service, achieving the outcomes that Londoner’s want.”  

As you know, we still face a £260million funding gap – even with this additional funding – and we have to continue to make tough choices. Despite the organisation getting smaller, we are working to put more resource and clever tactics into the biggest priorities that will best serve our communities. 
 

Thanks to your continued hard work, we’re arresting more than 1,000 criminals more each month and we’re improving performance, driving down the below offences:  
 

Knife crime by 18.1 per cent 

Residential burglary by 17.7 per cent 

Theft from the person by 15.6 per cent 

Personal robbery by 12.8 per cent 

Shoplifting – solved 163 per cent more cases this year