Voice of London

Words: Leanne Hall | Brenda Zini

The Office for National Statistics has released new data implying that London now has a higher crime rate than New York. The number of violent crimes logged by police has risen by a fifth (19 per cent) to 1.2 million compared to the previous year.

Criminal justice experts insist the rise of crime in London is due to the way it is policed, budget cuts have reduced the number of neighbourhood patrols. Meaning police will come after the crime has happened, and are not there to prevent it. Unlike New York where the police department have seen an increase in neighbourhood patrol and a decrease in crime rate.

President of the United States, Donald Trump, found a different reason to blame crime rates going up. Jumping on the statistics in a last-ditch attempt to make Islam look bad (yet again), he claims the rise of violent attacks is due to “Radical Islamic Terror.” Ed Miliband, former Labour leader wasn’t having any of it outing Trump as a “moron” on Twitter.

When it comes to big cities, as a visitor or a resident it’s always best to be on your guard but what do people in London think about these new statistics? Is it scarier? Is it going to stop them from leaving the house? Are we surrounded by extremists like Donald Trump thinks? Find out below.