In days of old, Knights of the Realm were charged with keeping the King’s peace. But Sir Sadiq Khan and Sir Mark Rowley’s foray onto the streets of Shoreditch last week was more for PR purposes than for King and country.
By Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter
Credit: Mayor of London
In days of old, Knights of the Realm were charged with keeping the King’s peace. But Sir Sadiq Khan and Sir Mark Rowley’s foray onto the streets of Shoreditch last week was more for PR purposes than for King and country.
As the festive season steps up its full frontal assault on our bank accounts, the Mayor of London and Met Police Commissioner were on patrol as part of a wider strategy of boosting police presence in London’s busy Christmas hotspots at night.
But Sir Sadiq has admitted that more funding from central government is needed for the Met to continue cracking down on the capital’s potential crime hotspots. He and Sir Mark have been lobbying the Home Office ahead of this week’s provisional police funding settlement, which will decide how much money each force gets over the next year.
The Met Police has been forced to make significant and sometimes controversial reforms in recent months to make up its organisational budget deficit, including shutting 10 physical front counters at police stations across London.
The number of police officers has also taken a hit, with projections suggesting there will be around 2,500 fewer at the end of March 2026 than there were in May 2024, when the Mayor won his third term in office.
However, there has been a renewed focus from the Met Police on neighbourhood visibility, especially in crime hotspots, with the force saying they have seen increased success with targeted patrols.
Last week the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) joined the Mayor and the Met Police Commissioner on the operation in Shoreditch where Sir Sadiq said it was an unfortunate reality that Londoners will be targeted by criminal activity during the festive period
“At this time of year, criminals target people like me and other Londoners,” he told the LDRS in an interview. “They target us when we’re shopping, they target our shops, they sometimes target women going to a night-time venue or leaving one.
“What our police are doing is working incredibly hard with our councils, with night-time venues, with shops, with partners to make sure there’s high visibility policing in and around the West End, but also other parts of London where we know there are pubs, bars, restaurants and shops, making sure we continue to build on the progress since last summer.
“Since last summer we’ve had these targeted teams in the West End and across town centres. We’ve seen a massive reduction in personal theft, a massive increase in shoplifting cases being solved, and we want to build on that this Christmas.”
City Hall officials say the targeted operations in London’s West End have seen theft fall by more than 25 per cent since April. However, with fewer police in the Met’s ranks and warnings that the workforce could be cut further, resources could become stretched if the force isn’t adequately backed by the Labour government.
The Mayor of London said: “14 years of austerity has had a real consequence on our police service – from City Hall, we’re going to carry on investing in our police [and] being tough on crime, but also investing in youth workers and youth clubs; being tough on the complex causes of crime.
“We’re also lobbying the government – they gave us a good deal last year but we need a good deal this year as well, because I recognise keeping a global city safe, you know, costs money.
“Even the best government in the world couldn’t reverse all those cuts in one year, but we could do with some support because it is really tough in terms of continuing to make progress with a limited budget from central government.”
Steve Connolly, the Chief Inspector for Neighbourhood Policing in Hackney, told the LDRS that dedicated patrols in the area had seen a 50 per cent fall in robbery and a 25 per cent drop in theft compared to the same four-week period last year.
“We know when our peak times are per crime type, we know exactly what kind of policing is needed at those times, so it’s been much more effective,” he told the LDRS.
“We’ve hunted out and arrested a number of wanted offenders who might otherwise come into the area to commit crimes over this period.”
This month, the Met is using data analysis to identify locations in Westminster, Croydon, Lambeth, Southwark, and Haringey where knife crime is most prevalent and then deliver locally tailored police and community interventions.
It is part of a wider plan to protect retail in the capital in the ‘golden quarter’ – the final three months of the year when London’s businesses generate more than £1billion in economic activity.
Kerry O’Connor, Managing Director of Spaces Unlocked, a 25,000 square foot industrial-style venue in Shoreditch, said ongoing police patrols were “absolutely fundamental” for her being able to run the business “successfully and safely”.
She told the LDRS: “Police presence is absolutely vital. Hospitality is in a very bad predicament at the moment. We are experiencing real issues with increased costs.
“People are reviewing where they’re going, how they will get there, will they feel safe, how will they get home. And all of these things play a very big part in how people plan to spend their money and go out and enjoy themselves.”
