Sadiq Khan has pledged to get 1,300 more neighbourhood police officers, PCSOs and special constables on London’s streets, if he is reelected to City Hall.
The Labour mayor, who is campaigning for a record third term in office, made the announcement while on a visit with shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper in Wandsworth.
He said: “After more than a decade of Tory neglect, a return to proper neighbourhood policing will be at the heart of my third term if I am re-elected.”
It comes after a recent poll found that while Khan boasted a 24-point lead over Conservative candidate Susan Hall, Londoners rated him poorly on issues of crime and housing.
Hall, a former council leader and Tory City Hall group chairman, has pledged to restore the 32 borough commanders and says she would invest £200m including in burglary units.
But she has also faced criticism for saying at a hustings event that police misconduct should be handled “behind closed doors” and that issues in the Met Police are “wrong ‘uns”.
She defended the remarks, as reported by the Times, but said: “Openness and transparency is fundamental to restoring the public’s trust in the police.”
Khan said: “Keeping Londoners safe is my number-one priority, being both tough on crime and tough on its complex causes.
“I’m delighted to announce that working with a new Labour Government I’d put around an extra 1,300 police and community support officers on the beat in London.
“After more than a decade of Tory neglect, a return to proper neighbourhood policing would be at the heart of my third term as Mayor.”
While Cooper added: “Labour has always been the champion of neighbourhood policing – local officers and PCSOs who know the community and work with them to prevent crime, catch criminals, and keep residents safe.
“London needs a Labour mayor and a Labour government to carry on the job. We can’t let more Tory chaos put that at risk. As home secretary, I will work with Sadiq to keep Londoners safe.”
The new officers would boost the Met’s ability to offer neighbourhood policing – a key recommendation in Baroness Casey’s landmark review into the Met Police, following the murder of Sarah Everard by serving armed cop Wayne Couzens.
It would be part of Labour’s wider drive to get police on the streets, with the party promising 13,000 more neighbourhood officers and PCSOs as a community policing guarantee.
Both Hall and Liberal Democrat candidate Rob Blackie have attacked Khan’s record on policing, with Blackie pledging to ‘Fix the Met’ and Hall previously using the slogan ‘Safer with Susan’.