Pan London Crime and Disorder Prevention

Over the past few years most crime reduction initiatives have originated in boroughs rather than co-ordinated London wide activities. However, recently there has been an refound awareness that although many issues are particular to one or another local area there are London wide or sub reginal issues which cross borough boundaries and benefit from a broader coalition of services and resources.

The roles of the elected Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority include tackling crime and disorder in London. This has been noticeably undertaken through transport safety and supporting the development of the London Domestic Violence Strategy and its statutory commitment to Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and its duties.

In October 2008 the Mayor of London will be able to Chair the Metropolitan Police Authority (see link below) - which is the senior management body of London's police. Mayor Johnson (elected May 2008) has stated he intends to take on this role.

There are a number of regional and sub regional issues that need to be focused upon if crime is to be effectively reduced. Amongst these are the cross borough boundary issues - the commision of crime in sub regioanl hotspots or the movement of criminals from a home borough to another to commit an offence. A useful piece of research on this subject is Cross-border Crime in Richmond.