A chat with London's police commissioner
I sat down this morning with Sir Paul Stephenson, the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Department, for a rare one-on-one interview. Stephenson commands a force of 34,000 officers and more than 50,000 total staff, and is responsible for areas of law enforcement that in America might be handled by federal or other authorities.
I will post later tonight, after touring Manchester's Moss Side with the Xcalibre gang unit, but generally, Stephenson said he was "pleased, not delighted," about crime reductions in London while discussing an uptick in gun incidents and his agency's efforts to tackle youth gangs. He also talked, with some depth, about a recent controversy in which he ordered specialized units to stop armed patrols in high crime areas. The Metropolitan police force is not armed other than a very small number of special initiatives (representing less than 500 officers), and he wants to keep it that way. It's the will of the public and of the police officers themselves, he said. The unit that was carrying out the patrols are used to carrying weapons and didn't realize the gravity of the situation, he said.
At the end of our chat, he told me to pass along that he wished well for Baltimore officers.
Comments
if you want to see gang and gun crime,jump on the train from manchester picadilly to liverpool lime street,only an hour,there is a gang war going on between croxteth and norris green,both suburbs of liverpool.bet you will have more to write about,than you will in moss side.hope you have a good time in the uk,becarefull in the nw of england, this is a deprived area of the uk,we dont have the money the south has,therefore the crime is rife. 2weeks ago there was an attack on the police helicopter,followed by high speed car chase.go see liverpool,you"ll get plenty of scoops there.
Posted by: colin jones | November 6, 2009 9:39 AM
CJ, you are right about that. I never realized how bad it was until I took a trip there and saw the ghetto's and trash flying in the wind. In Liverpool, two herione addicts were trying to hustle/rob a group of us tourists after their high wore off. We were at the bar when we first ran into them and the bar tender was yelling at them. Surely as bad as Baltimore in a different light.
Posted by: MM | November 6, 2009 10:51 AM
I lived in London for three years and never experienced a crime against myself. There are very few guns for one thing. Less armed robberies and certainly less bank robberies. There are gangs and drugs but nothing like over here.
Posted by: david wayne osedach | November 6, 2009 1:22 PM
Well..it sounds like crime is the "Big Bad Guns" fault..You don't need a gun to commit a crime...You can use a Base Ball Bat..Golf club..knives..any tool ..a large stick...sling shot...chains...broken beer bottle...even a car/truck....
Posted by: Bob | November 6, 2009 4:23 PM