Mayor Must Stop Wasting Police Budget Says Councillor Michael

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, recently held a public consultation on his Draft Police and Crime Plan for 2025-29. Once adopted, the Police and Crime Plan will set out the Mayor’s priorities for policing and community safety in London for the next four years.

Hayes & Coney Hall Ward Councillor Alexa Michael took advantage of the consultation to tell the Mayor her views on how crime should be tackled and community safety promoted in the capital.

She told the Mayor that his Draft Plan makes little mention of shoplifting which is now reaching endemic proportions. While retailers must play their part in minimising the ability of shoplifters to steal from shops, the Police must also be proactive in catching shoplifters and ensuring they are brought to trial. Failure to do so means retailers pass higher prices on to honest customers.

The Mayor referred to “minimising the harm done by drugs” in his Draft Plan. Councillor Michael stressed that any effective anti-drugs strategy must include tacking the supply of illegal drugs at the source. Stringent efforts must be made to disrupt and smash ‘county lines’ which involve the exploitation of young people.

Councillor Michael believes that the Police must be allowed to use their discretion to carry out ‘stop and search’ where they think there is a strong possibility that somebody is carrying knives or other weapons. This action is purely to prevent further tragic loss of young lives – no parent should have to bury their child because they have been killed in a knife attack.

Last year’s shocking and tragic events in Southport showed that PREVENT is not preventing. While the fight against Islamic extremism must continue to be the main anti-terror focus, Councillor Michael considers that the strategy must evolve to allow individuals like Axel Rudakubana to be eligible for the PREVENT programme.

Metropolitan Police numbers must reach 32,000 for the metropolis and not be allowed to fall below this number. The best candidates for the job must be recruited as Police, regardless of ethnic or other background. The Mayor must also budget wisely.

Councillor Michael said:

“The Mayor must make more efficient use of his available budget and use it to provide core policing services to protect the public. Nonsense such as sending senior Police officers on courses where they are allocated a colour that matches their personality must stop – this is a huge waste of taxpayers’ money that could and should be spent on frontline Police work such as preventing knife crime which disproportionately affects young people.”