Pupils are given advice amid bus muggings spike
OFFICER REVEALS VISITS TO SCHOOLS
A LEADING Metropolitan Police Service officer has said that the force is visiting schools to issue guidance to young people amid a reported spike in London bus robberies.
The Gazette reported earlier this month that an East London borough had seen an increase in young people robbing and attacking each other.
During a Barking and Dagenham Council overview and scrutiny committee meeting with the Met on December 5, Chief Superintendent Stuart Bell of the East Area Command said the borough has seen a huge increase in street robberies involving young people.
This includes some being mugged for their jackets or shoes.
Now, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Ward, who leads on serious violence for the force, has told the Gazette that the incidents are being taken seriously and guidance is being given to schools.
He said: “I take every crime really seriously. I take robberies and knife crime and threats against people incredibly seriously, and we notice our young people, who are some of the most vulnerable that we’ve got.
“So those are the ones we’re working really hard with.
“Our safety schools officers are in schools, and they’ll be in schools right up until the end of term, giving advice, giving guidance, working with young people to make sure they can be as safe as they possibly can be when they’re out travelling across the capital.”
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who is also the capital’s police and crime commissioner, said: “It’s always been the case, actually, that the age of which are the largest victims of crime are young people.
“That’s one of the reasons why we’ve invested in 500 schools officers, particularly targeting when schools end between 3pm and, generally speaking, 8-10pm.
“We’ve seen across public transport across the country an increase in crime on public transport - it’s not escaped London.
“In London, we’re working with the Met Police Service, also working with the British Transport Police, TfL’s own staff as well, to bear down on this.”