Speeches and letters

Crime

Ask many Londoners the issue that most affects the quality of their life. And the answer you will hear is crime.

Labour was elected to tackle crime and its causes after two decades of Tory failure. Our policies are making a difference. We can be proud that crime in London fell overall last year. That burglary rates in the capital are now at a twenty year low. But the crime statistics still tell a grim tale. The latest figures show that in the year to last March there were 131,549 crimes against the person in London. That's 360 a day or one every 4 minutes. Add to that nearly 400,000 thefts, almost one a minute across the city.

For a few Londoners these figures will have little meaning. They are lucky enough to live in so-called low crime neighbourhoods, or those who are protected by private security guards, or even those who live in penthouse flats on the river, and whose main fear of crime is having one of the books they have written nicked from WH Smiths.

But for most Londoners the fear of crime is real and physical.

The elderly, tens of thousands of whom fear being menaced by gangs of youths in the street, or being attacked in their own homes.

Women, who are now afraid to travel home at night on the train service that they pay for through their taxes.

And, of course, the nearly two million Londoners, who are at risk of attack for just one reason - the colour of their skin.

For the past two years, Londoners have been appalled by the tragedy of young Stephen Lawrence. And there can be few of us who have not been impressed by the dignity and persistence of his parents Neville and Doreen. But the overriding lesson that the inquiry into Stephen's murder left us with is this - our police have to serve all Londoners equally.

We know that there are many professional, outstanding, officers in the Met. But we also know that the service has much to do. As the McPherson inquiry made clear the Met itself has to be representative of the whole of London. But if we are to tackle the fear of crime facing all Londoners we have to do far more. We have to be bold and ambitious.

And crime has effects beyond its impact on victims. We must tackle crime and disorder if we want to make London a better place. Because it's the only way many of our other policies can succeed. We won't be able to get people, particularly women and older people to use public transport if they don't feel safe on the bus, train or tube or on the walk home from the bus stop or station at night. Businesses considering whether to invest or re-invest in London will be put off if they think their premises or their staff are at risk of crime. A teacher doing a good job in a tough neighbourhood may decide to move somewhere else less demanding if they are attacked or assaulted. Nurses who have trained in London will move out of the capital if they are abused at work or fearful on the streets. Plans to improve parks and open spaces will be dashed if loutish behaviour means parents won't take their children to play and older people stay at home.

Yet despite its prevalence and the much wider fear that it causes, crime has been the silent issue of the mayoral debate thus far. Ken Livingstone claims to have the most comprehensive policy package of any candidate for Mayor yet his policies on crime comprise only the usual litany of complaints about police attitudes and accountability. Reading Ken's manifesto you'd think the biggest law and order problem in London was the police. I beg to differ Ken. I say the biggest law and order problem is the criminals; the thugs, the crooks, the drug dealers; the people who every day make the lives of thousands of Londoners a misery.

Of course, the accountability of the police matters. The police need the support of the communities that they serve. Let us be absolutely clear there must be no return to the sterile oppositionalist politics of the seventies and eighties It is the responsibility of the mayor and of the people of London to support the police and to work with them to tackle the crime which is blighting so many lives and dividing so many communities.

Today I will unveil my ten-point plan to cut crime in the capital. And in doing so I will also lay out some of the key themes of my campaign for Labour's nomination and for the position of London mayor.

The work has already begun. In asking Trevor Phillips to be deputy mayor to seek the position of chair of the new Metropolitan Police authority I am signalling that we will strengthen accountability, improve strategic liaison and deepen community consultation. Over the coming months Trevor will be talking with the police, local authorities and community groups to identify the strategic priorities for the new authority and back up local priorities.

One of the things that most struck me when Trevor and I discussed working together was what he told me about being on the streets of Brixton the weekend after the terrible bombing there in April. He and others in the local community went out on the streets asking people to work with the police to catch the perpetrators. Groups of people, black and white, ordinary residents from Brixton, police officers and local councillors, handed out leaflets with a hotline telephone number, asking the people thronging the market to report anything they had seen.

After years of suspicion and conflict it would not have been surprising if this appeal for help had been rejected. Yet, in fact, as they gave out the leaflets, what they found was that local people responded to the joint approach - they were ready to help a police service that had shown it was ready to protect them, to work with them and to listen to them.

Both Trevor and I believe the starting point for better accountability is not bureaucracy or regulation but the development a stronger relationship on the ground between citizens and police officers. This is one way the Mayor of London can provide a human face to government. Too often in the past London local government and even London's services have appeared faceless, bureaucratic, cut off from the communities they are supposed to serve. The way we provide services across the capital should reconnect Government and public service to communities.

And this approach recognises that some of the best people at deterring crime don't wear a police officer's uniform. Over the years in the name of, what the Tories called efficiency, a lot of people whose presence contributed to public order have been got rid of. Let me give some examples. Caretakers, park keepers, ticket collectors, porters on hospital doors. It wasn't the main job of these people to deter crime but they did, just by being around. They also noticed when anyone unfamiliar appeared or an unusual event took place. And it wasn't just that. Park keepers took pride in their jobs and kept a close eye on things. If they'd worked in the park for years they would have known today's teenagers as yesterday's toddlers playing with their mum and dad so that meant they had more chance of influencing them.

The mobile teams who seem to run most things now don't know local people so through no fault of their own they can't have the same influence or the same deterrent effect. As Mayor I want to work with local authorities and central government to ensure that, from now on, when decisions are being made there is a full assessment of the impact on community safety and crime prevention.

And I believe we can bring more of this approach to policing. It is already the case that many communities in London are told who the local beat police officers are and how to contact them. I want to extend this good practice and make it an entitlement for all Londoners. Put simply I want ever Londoner to have their own local police officer, like they have their own GP.

In Chicago they already have a named police officer for every citizen. Click onto the Chicago Police Force website and you can look up your area and see the name, photo and telephone number of your local beat officer.

As citizens we are entitled to know the name and work phone number of our GP, the name and work phone number of our children's class teacher. I want every Londoner to know the name, work phone number and e-mail address of their police officer. So that when a citizen notices that a street corner is becoming a gathering point for trouble makers, when a child comes home and says they were offered drugs at schools, there is an identified police officer to talk to. Someone who understands the locality, who is part of the community and who can nip trouble in the bud.

Chicago's web site is just one example of the way technology can be used in the battle against crime. A key priority for the Mayor must be to give the capital's police access to the best technology and science available. DNA testing provides a fast and reliable way of linking criminals to the crime scene. I want the Met to push forward with DNA testing as soon as possible. This can make a huge contribution to successful prosecutions of criminals. And making it more likely that offenders will be caught and punished is the best form of deterrence. CCTV has made a real difference to crime levels but it is not always accurate enough to provide clear identification. So we must extend the installation of smart cameras which use computer technology to match film to suspects' faces. In one area of Newham using the new technology led to a two thirds decline in the rate of burglary

In crime prevention as in many other areas there is much good practice across London. But too often we don't learn the lessons and build on the good practice. I see one of the key roles of the London Mayor as using London's strengths to address London's weaknesses. So often people in London are looking for solutions that already exist somewhere else in the capital. The Mayor must act as a focal point for finding solutions to our city's problems and spreading best practice.

Another area in which we can use more effectively tools that are already available is working with local authority colleagues to use local by-laws to crack down on anti-social behaviour. Following the successful example of cities like Coventry, which used by-laws to deal with public drunkenness.

There have been some experiments with this approach in London and there are lessons to be learnt. But I believe that by-laws can offer an effective, and so far underused way of tackling nuisance and social disorder.

By-laws can be an important part of a strategy to help people feel at home on the streets where they live. We need to learn from the success of other cities in recognising that one of the most effective ways to tackle serious crime is to crack down on all forms of criminality and social nuisance. Violent crime breeds in areas of vandalism, harassment, repeated intimidation. Where this intensive approach has been tried as in part of my own constituency it has made a real difference. Very often at the heart of successful campaigns against crime an disorder is a strong relationship between the city mayor and the police chief.

Technology can also be linked with modern policing methods to track and identify crime hotspots before they become a problem. Many of the worst areas for crime have been problems for years, but too often we act too late. We have the technology to know when and where crime hotspots are emerging, so why don't we share this information with key figures in the communities themselves?

By working more closely with the community we have a chance to turn back the rising tide of crime in problem areas. This way we will enable the whole community to take responsibility - with the police - for taking the heat out of crime hotspots.

Let's be clear while London can be one of the greatest places to live, this quality of life is denied to too many of our citizens. As you walk or drive across London you will see pleasant, affluent, orderly communities cheek by jowl with run down, impoverished crime-ridden areas. My aim as London Mayor will be to create a city where all our citizens share in a decent quality of life.

The Kings Cross area is a good example of how working together can reduce crime and disorder. Kings Cross is in my constituency and that of Chris Smith. Together with local people we pressed the Met to take more effective action against the prostitution, drugs and associated crime that were making life a misery for local residents.

The result was a concerted effort involving local people, local community groups, local business, the Islington and Camden councils working with the Met and the British transport Police. Entry systems were provided CCTV installed and much more targeted policing was developed. It succeeded but when things get better the effort tends to relax and resources tend to decline. Some problems are re-emerging at he moment but the lessons are first that these targeted operations can succeed and second that once the tide of crime has receded we have to remain vigilant to stop it crashing in on us again.

Prostitution and the problems of harassment and curb crawling that come with it are very serious matters. Concerted action in areas like Kings Cross can deter the curb crawlers who harass innocent women. But there is always a danger that the problem is merely moved from one area to another. That's why I am calling on the Government to take national action against curb crawling

A crime that often goes hand in hand with prostitution is drug dealing. Drugs continue to be a terrible blight on too many of our communities and tackling drugs must be a priority. This means catching and locking up the dealers particularly those who prey on our children. But it also means helping people turn away from drugs, giving them a chance to start again, to rebuild useful lives. Yes, in London there are addicts in a spiral of decline, families falling apart, turning to crime to feed their habit. But there are also thousands of people who have found it in themselves to turn away from drugs. I want us to build on the success of the pilot scheme in areas like Southwark by developing a system of what is called 'arrest referral' in every police station. Every drug addict must be pointed in the direction of treatment for their addiction. This is using the criminal justice system not just to punish after the event but to intervene to tackle the causes of crime.

When we think of crime we tend to focus on those committed by strangers. But sadly much violent crime is committed within families. That's why we must underline at every opportunity how seriously we take the issue of domestic violence. Some years ago I was one of a number of London Labour M.P.s who got the Met to take domestic violence seriously. Over recent years a combination of initiatives ranging from public education to the work of community groups have made more women feel able to report domestic violence. But our approach is still too patchy. As Mayor I will develop a city-wide strategy to tackle domestic violence.

At the centre of that strategy there will be a new London training centre bringing together police, probation and community groups. Every victim of domestic violence must know they can find help that is sensitive, understanding and which offers solutions. And every perpetrator of domestic violence must know that assault is assault and will be treated as such whether it occurs in the street or the sitting room.

And we must tackle violence and intimidation towards people at work. As health secretary I started to put in place measures to help protect nurses, doctors and ambulance staff. But they are not the only people who suffer. People working in retailing get threatened and assaulted. Social workers are very vulnerable on the streets or when visiting clients' homes. Teaching is a hard enough job as it is but it is made much harder by the threat and sometimes the reality of violence and abuse, Many railway, tube and bus workers are victims of violence. This list is endless.

We have to turn back the tide. People should be able to do their jobs in peace and with dignity. There is a big role for trade unions working with employers on staff safety strategies. Policies like different ways of working, changing the layout of buildings, more security on entrances and exits, CCTV and personal alarms. In some parts of London the police are working closely with employers and staff to tackle this problem - these links must be taken forward. As Mayor I will for build on best practice and examine the scope developing common training arrangements.

We have also got to recognise that the private security industry is here to stay. It needs to be properly regulated to make sure that its staff and management are properly vetted and their methods of working make a positive contribution to deterring crime and disorder. Security staff must be properly trained and offered reasonable protection when they go about their jobs. Properly linked in they can help make London a safer and better place.

One area of where we are at last seeing real progress is property crime. But there are no grounds for complacency. We must keep up and indeed accelerate the progress that has been made in stopping burglary. We may sometimes think of burglary as a minor offence. But as anyone who has suffered a burglary knows that it doesn't feel minor when you come home to find your house ransacked, cherished possessions smashed or stolen, your sense of security in your own home lost. Burglary has fallen in London over the last five years and I salute the police and the citizens whose vigilance has made this possible. But let's keep up the good work. To make sure we do so I will insist that London gets its fair share of the resources in the national burglary reduction fund announced by the Home Secretary.

And we must continue to tackle vehicle crime. Nationally the Government has set the target of a 30% reduction in vehicle crime over the next five years. In London that means 70,000 fewer car crimes a year by 2004. The Home Secretary is working in partnership with the motor industry to improve care security. Locally we can play our part by continuing to improve security in car parks, the site of a large proportion of car crime. To encourage this process further I propose the introduction of a safe car parks badging system. This will give London's motorists the assurance that any badged car park has CCTV and other security measures to protect their car from crime.

The vast majority of the Metropolitian Police service are honest and hardworking but their reputation has suffered at the hands of a small minority of corrupt officers. We must keep up he pressure to root out corruption and to re-establish the reputation of London's police service.

This is my ten point plan to cut crime:

0. Trevor Phillips and the new police authority, working with the police to achieve better accountability, liaison and community links

1. A named police officer for every citizen

2. The best use of new technology and science

3. Continuing the drive against police corruption

4. Using intensive policing and working with communities to take the heat out of crime hotspots and better use of local by-laws

5. Pressing for national action on curb crawling

6. Helping drug addicts to beak the link between drugs and crime and start a new life

7. Real action to tackle crime committed on those at work

8. A new target for burglary backed by national funding

9. A badging system to drive better car park security

Ten concrete steps to a safer, better London. Using the great strengths of this city to tackle some of its toughest problems. Getting communities and citizens more involved in the fight against crime by giving law and order a human face. Working not just for less crime but for a decent quality of life for every Londoner. These are the policies, this is the vision.

And this is what this election is about. I am proud to have served in the Labour Government but I know as a member of this great party for forty years that Labour members are always impatient for more change, always anxious to keep our leaders on their toes. But this election is not about sending a message to Tony Blair. It is about what could be the greatest city in the world. It is about the fact that in that city there are millions of people locked out of prosperity denied opportunity, living in fear. This is not a symbolic battle it is a real choice. Either the politics of the past, of gesture, of impossible promises designed to score points not to solve problems. Or my politics, a politics of practical, modern, realistic policies rooted in our traditional socialist values of social justice. Over the next few weeks the Labour Party in London has to decide; do you want to make a point or do you want to make a difference?

I would not have put my name forward if I did not believe that I could make this city even better than it is, that I could not make everyone part of its success. We in Labour created the Mayor, we in Labour campaigned in and won the referendum. Now we in Labour have got a responsibility to provide the leadership this city needs. That's why I ask you to join with me in making Labour London the greatest city in the world.

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