There has been a surge in the number of young people losing their lives in knife and gun crimes in London, undoubtedly leaving us all anxious, outraged and worried. And according to new reports, it is for the first time that London has overtaken New York in terms of the murder rates.
London and New York both have similar sized population of around 8.5 million people. However, the Big Apple's murder rate has gone down by around 87% since the 1990s. On the other hand, the murder rate in London has increased by nearly 40% in just three years – this is barring death caused by terrorist attacks.
A 23-year-old man became the eleventh person to be fatally stabbed or gunned down in the capital in just 16 days. Police launched a murder probe after the unidentified man was knifed in the neck in Greenwich, reportedly near Plumstead train station.
In the latest series of violent killings in London, a 17-year-old girl, Tanesha Melbourne died in Tottenham, North London, on 2nd April 2018 after being shot. On the same night, two boys, aged 15 and 16 were found in Walthamstow, East London, suffering from gun shot and knife wounds, and are said to be in a critical condition.
The charity head of programmes for Fight for Peace, Jacob Whittingham said, “What's scary about London is the randomness of the crime. With young people in London, you have no idea if and when you may be the victim of a violent crime – that's why they feel the need to carry weapons.”
Met Commissioner, Cressida Dick is said to have stated that websites and mobile phone apps, such as Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube were partially to blame for the violence. She said, “There's definitely something about the impact of social media in terms of people being able to go from slightly angry with each other to 'fight' very quickly.”
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has blamed the Government for police cuts. He tweeted, “Tory police cuts have already cost London thousands of police officers and staff, most of our police station front counters and police buildings. It's time for the Government to stop misleading the public and properly fund the police.”
