Lib Dem candidate for London Mayor unveils figures of inequality in crime

By Noah Vickers, Local Democracy Reporter 

The Liberal Democrats’ candidate for London Mayor has promised to reduce the “completely unacceptable” levels of crime suffered by black Londoners.

Unveiling his Race Equality Plan for Policing on Thursday, the party’s City Hall contender Rob Blackie pointed out that black Londoners are six times more likely to be murdered and twice as likely to be raped than white Londoners.

He also argued that Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan “has not made any significant progress” on addressing the issue.

Mr Khan’s team said the election was a “two horse race” between him and Tory candidate Susan Hall, and that the Mayor was working to tackle the issue by “addressing the underlying causes of violence such as poverty, alienation and lack of opportunity”.

Mr Blackie pledged to build “stronger relationships” between the police and London’s black communities, while implementing measures to recruit, retain, and promote black police officers.

He said: “The statistics are completely unacceptable, and the current Mayor, Sadiq Khan, has not made any significant progress.

“Since he has been in charge of the Met, the proportion of black police officers has only increased from three per cent in 2016 to 3.6 per cent in 2023.”

According to the 2021 census, 13.5 per cent of Londoners are black. In her review of the Met’s culture last year, Baroness Casey said that the organisation had failed to improve recruitment and retention of black officers.

Mr Blackie’s team pledged to improve and accelerate the vetting process for new recruits, starting with automated social media audits, and to introduce a police survey with the aim of capturing at least 10 per cent of all interactions between the police and public.

He said: “I will also conduct a comprehensive analysis of stop and search practices using bodycam footage to minimise negative impacts on community relations.”

Mr Blackie revealed in November, that a study into how officers are using their power to stop and search, announced by the Mayor in 2020, had still not been delivered.

A spokesman for Mr Khan said: “This election is a close two-horse race between Sadiq and the Tory candidate who doesn’t believe in the causes of crime and thinks the problems of the Met should be dealt with ‘behind closed doors’.

“It is a sad truth that young black Londoners are over-represented as both victims and offenders and this is something we have worked to highlight in the past.

“It’s not skin colour that determines your chances of being a victim or a perpetrator, but many other environmental factors such as disproportionate rates of poverty, unemployment and school exclusions.”

The London Mayoral election will take place on May 2, along with elections for the London Assembly.

Pictured top: Lib Dem Mayoral candidate Rob Blackie (Picture: Andrew King Photography)