Street attacks on the rise

Street crime has risen in every London borough, with increases of more than 70 per cent in parts of the capital, detailed analysis of new Scotland Yard data reveals.

Headline figures published last week show how mugging leaped 38 per cent across London, fuelling an increase of six per cent in overall crime.

But while the total figures were bad enough, borough-byborough scrutiny reveals some hidden crime trends, which make the picture of offending in the capital even more unsettling.

On street crime, every borough saw mugging go up, with rises ranging from 19 per cent in Enfield to more than 70 per cent in three outlying boroughs - Richmond, Waltham Forest and Greenwich.

Police chiefs stress that the rises in boroughs such as Greenwich amount to no more than one extra offence every 24 hours.

"We are not hiding from the figures, but our greatest concern is the reporting of street crime in outlying boroughs will increase fear of crime," Deputy Assistant Commissioner Tim Godwin said.

The impact of gang-related gun crime on parts of London is also revealed by some alarmingly low detection rates for murder in boroughs where the drugs trade is endemic.

Across London, the murder detection rate slipped from nine out of 10 during 2000-01 to only seven out of 10 in the past 12 months. But in Hackney, home of the Lower Clapton Road "Murder Mile" where there have been at least eight fatal shootings, the detection figures are down to 28.5 per cent.

Scotland Yard police chiefs say that their huge responsibilities to protect London from terrorism after 11 September have damaged the fight against crime. They say the redeployment of 1,500 officers to police central London has put a heavy strain on the force.

But while the failures to prevent street robbery and catch offenders can be explained in part by the extra burden of counter-terrorism, the uncomfortable truth is that the Yard's global reputation as a centre of excellence for detective work is no longer supported by the facts.

Fewer than one in seven crimes ended with an offender being brought to justice in the past 12 months. And for some categories of crime, the Met's record has gone from bad to worse - with fewer than one in 20 car crimes, and fewer than one in 10 offences of burglary and criminal damage ending in arrest.

When national figures are published by the Home Office in July, it is a certainty that the Met's detection record will lag far behind the rest of England and Wales.

Mr Godwin said: "London is still a safe city to live in. Burglary is still almost at its lowest for 20 years, but street crime and the use of guns are the significant issues where we need to improve our performance.

"We are totally committed to driving down street crime and the use of guns but for that we need the support of the community to come forward and tell us who is committing these crimes."