London crime: police cuts 'likely contributed to rise in violent crime', leaked Home Office report reveals amid wave of bloodshed

Scotland Yard: Ministers previously insisted police cuts have not led to a rise in violent crime (Photo shows a forensic officer at the scene of a fatal shooting in Tottenham)
Jonathan Brady/PA
Tom Powell9 April 2018
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Police cuts have “likely contributed” to a rise in violent crime, according to a leaked Home Office document amid a surge in bloodshed on London’s streets.

The leaked paper said offenders may have been "encouraged" by the lack of police resources and fall in charge rates.

It risks embarrassing Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who insisted on Sunday that a decline in the number of officers could not be linked to a rise in violent crime.

It comes as Ms Rudd launches a new strategy to tackle serious violent crime, following more than 50 murders in the capital already this year.

 Home Secretary Amber Rudd is announcing a new strategy to tackle serious violent crime 
REUTERS

The document, obtained by the Guardian, said: "Since 2012/3, weighted crime demand on the police has risen, largely due to growth in recorded sex offences.

"At the same time officers' numbers have fallen by 5 per cent since 2014.

"So resources dedicated to serious violence have come under pressure and charge rates have dropped. This may have encouraged offenders."

It claimed it was "unlikely to be the factor that triggered the shift in serious violence, but may be an underlying driver that has allowed the rise to continue".

The Guardian reported that a highlighted box emphasises that point: "Not the main driver but has likely contributed."

The Home Office said it would not comment on a leaked document.

Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said: "The Government's own analysis seems to suggest that cuts to police officer numbers has had an effect in encouraging violent offences.

"If true this blows apart the Tories' repeated claims that their cuts have had no effect."

Policing Minister Nick Hurd acknowledged that the system was "stretched" but told the BBC it was "categorically not the case" that a reduction in numbers was behind the rise in violent crime.

Ms Rudd will announce the Government's Serious Violence Strategy today. She is expected to highlight the importance of stopping youngsters carrying knives in the first place, as well as how drug-market violence may be facilitated and spread by social media.

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