The Metropolitan police commissioner has said she is “sure” cuts to her force’s budget have contributed to a rise in violent crime, and called for 500 extra officers by the end of 2019.



The government insists the Met has enough money, but the force says it is suffering under austerity and having to find another £300m in savings.

Speaking after the Guardian revealed on Thursday that the number of Met officers had fallen below 30,000 for the first time in 15 years, Cressida Dick said: “I’m hoping that we will get to well over 30,500 officers, more than 500 more than we currently have, by the end of next year.”

Dick’s comments on an LBC radio phone-in, after a 24-year-old man was stabbed to death in Barking, east London, were in response to concerns over a rise in the level of violent crime in the capital this year.

Clear-up rates for the Met for murder and rape cases have fallen sharply over the past two years.

As well as funding, Dick said a variety of other factors were behind the increase.

Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, has said he is spending record amounts raised from local taxation to soften the blow to policing in London. The Met has lost £600m in funding since 2011.

Dick said: “There’s a whole load of things, but of course I would be naive to say that the reduction in police finances over the last few years, not just in London but beyond, hasn’t had an impact.

“I’m sure it’s had an impact. It’s part of the issue, and that’s why I’m very grateful for the new money that we’ve got, which we are getting on and investing on recruiting new people, and I think it will help.”

The Met commissioner said she was using extra money from the mayor and local taxes to hire more officers, but needed to recruit 1,800 a year merely to replace those leaving and retiring.

Another factor in the growth in violence was social media, Dick said. “We are seeing the glamorisation of violence, we are seeing social media being used to taunt other gangs, to bring violence about very quickly.”

The government has said the Met has sufficient funds.

