WTF is happening in London?!

[AngeloMysterioso]

In the last few days alone, there’s been a stabbing outside Liverpool St station, two moped muggers punched a women to the ground for her handbag and phone, and Michael McIntyre was forced out of his car and had his watch taken off him by another pair who smashed his window in whilst his child was in the back!

Even where I live in a pretty boring zone 4 suburb two teenage boys were stabbed a few streets away last week.

I know it’s never been the safest of cities but it feels like it’s got so much worse in the last year or so. What the hell is happening?

I’d hazard a guess at police cuts.

If second that. I’m sick of the unsocialabke nehavior during the night down my street. I was on hold for 3 hours dialling 101. People don’t care about consequences anymore.

Honestly wish pain on these moped thugs theyre horrible...

last week we saw 2 mopeds clearly stolen mount the pavement on a quiet residential road, then saw them walking eating the stolen pizzas. Few minutes later see police coming down, oh called in to say where the mopeds were stashed.

Police cuts coming home to roost. Not that the Home Secretary would admit it.

I don't know how people expected a different outcome to austerity measures and police cuts.

If caught, many of these moped muggers are teenagers.

Violent, impulsive and little thought for consequences - typical of teenagers. ☹

And don't forget Benedict Cumberbatch intervened to prevent a mugging on Baker Street!

Police cuts.

Police not allowed to chase the thugs n mopeds in case the little darlings fall off and get injured- because obvs that would be the nasty police officers fault.

Social issues... where are the parents? What morals are these thugs having instilled in them growing up?

Police cuts.

Where I live it's not usual to have a total of 20 cops covering half the county on a night shift. Police cuts.

When offenders do get charged, totally rubbish 'punishment ' from courts.

Didn't London officially become more dangerous than NY a few months ago? I live in NY and genuinely feel safer walking the streets here than when I'm back home in London.

I don't know if I'm allowed a say, but I felt safer in London at 10:30pm when I was there in March than I do here (small market town in Cambridgeshire) when it was dark in the early evening. I know police cuts aren't helping, there's some horrible things that have happened locally that make me worry.

I thought there'd been another a terror attack for a moment there.

But yeah - it's pretty bad at the moment.

I always feel absolutely safe in central London - Bloomsbury, Westminster, Holborn, Southbank etc.

I don't like going to Brixton/Camden though, and I don't feel safe there, whether it's day or night.

And school, education and social cuts. Lots of these kids and families needed help earlier, 4 or so years ago, when cuts were hitting hard too.

I know teachers in inner city London who have seen these kids in primary, already lost, for years. If they don't do well academically, there's nothing but gangs to get their self esteem and place from. There used to be sports, arts etc, there used to be a broader focus, now she says there's only time for the sats and other Gove shit, and if PE has to be cancelled, so be it.

It's ridiculous around here too. I see them going at breakneck speed in the middle of the day on main roads on stolen mopeds and I worry they will hit the pushchair one day and I won't see them coming quick enough, or my older kids will be in the wrong bit of pavement on their scooters.

Our flat is on the market. I want to try to get a bit further away.

Sorry ToeToToe didn’t mean to panic you- although the fact that that was your first thought is quite telling in itself

The Met lost approximately 2000 officers . Well actually they lost a lot more than that , especially experienced ones , but by recruiting new ones means they’re actually about 2000 officers down

They then had a shitload of things suddenly all deemed as priority - not unreasonably - counter terrorism , sexual offences both historic and current , child protection , and cyber crime amongst others , which meant even more officers having to be off patrol to work behind the scenes as it were . So police become less visible .

Stop and search is deemed disproportionate, so it gets frowned upon . So it doesn’t get used as much as it might .

If you are an opportunist criminal , right now , you know there are fewer police on the street, that essentially the odds of you being searched are nil , and if you want to rob someone , do it on a moped because no one’s ever going to chase you and risk getting hung out to dry by the IOPC . Odds in the crim’s favour , I’d say.

Police cuts don't cause youths to become thugs and criminals. If you think police catching these low lives will make them stop and reassess their lives I am afraid you're living in a bubble.

There is no real punishment for these thugs even if they do get caught. And the worst thing is they don't care if they are caught. Their lives mean nothing to them.

Postcode wars, music and you tube videos that promote gang violence, disenfranchised from normal life, no concept of responsibility and being part of society, aspiring to be drill and grime artists rather than actual jobs, no prospects because no one made them go to school, no value of education, no sense of pride, living in estates when gangs rule.

It's easy to blame the police but its like blaming the fire brigade for fires.

Not just police cuts. Austerity has also made poor people poorer and shut down opportunities for young people. Income inequality is staggeringly huge and inexorably rising, and evidence shows it promotes a breakdown of community cohesion which leads to rising crime. London is a blatantly unequal city and less well-off people basically have their noses constantly rubbed in the injustice of it. Racial tensions are rising across the globe. People are angry, alienated and disenfranchised. They see the ruling class and elites behaving appallingly and getting away with it; in fact, worse than that, actually profiting from it.
My focus on (a small part of) the wider social context does not mean I absolve law-breaking individuals of responsibility for their crimes.

I think it's to do with the fact that London has become a place of splits...massively rich among the exact opposite. Of course there'll be robberies. It's full of extreme poverty.

Parents are failing their kids. Plain and simple. They don’t know how to raise decent humans.

Cuts. Our local police station (SW London) has been closed, and the nearest is now two miles away and covering a much larger area. Muggings in particular have gone up hugely.

On Saturday I witnessed some lads attacking staff in a local Tesco metro. I left the shop (had toddler with me), but had good sight of the scrotes as they ran past me. Rang 101 to offer myself as a witness, and couldn't get through! Hung on for over 20 minutes, then gave up. Today I was back in the shop, so told the manager I had seen it, and would be able to identify the lads. He basically said the police aren't bothered, it's just not high enough up their priority list. This was a pretty violent attack, provoked because the manager saw them trying to shoplift, and had the temerity to try and stop them.

The main problem, IMO, is that getting away with this may well lead these lads to think they can get away with more. And so it escalates..... It was a peculiarly short-sighted and financially illiterate decision to make these cuts, but no doubt the government will plough on regardless.

My phone was stolen from my hand by a guy on a moped in London last year. Two police cars were there in a minute or so... and they chased him so whoever suggested they’re not allowed to chase is wrong. I blame the crippling and dangerous inequalities in our society. Those guys on the bikes have very little to lose. Me with my fancy phone, we’ll of course I can afford to lose it. I’m not condoning the violence just seeking to understand it

Also, it’s pretty bad when the police won’t show up for a violent attack in a shop but will waste time chasing my phone for twenty minutes! That’s a very poor use of their time!

Surly curly one of the main reasons these offenders use mopeds is that they know police won't pursue if they remove their helmet... there was a case a few years ago where a suspect not wearing a helmet fell off and got injured.. the police were found at fault hence now it is very rare for police to be authorised to pursue moped riders.

As for the other crimes... 'not being bothered to attend violent crime but wasted 2 cars chasing your phone ' resources vary literally from minute to minute depending on what is already going on elsewhere when incidents are reported, so maybe instead you should be very grateful that at that moment there were two cars available for you. And remember that cops WANT to catch these people.. if they stole your phone I guarantee they robbed a lot more people too. But if you feel that two cars was a waste of resources then why did you report it in the first place? They could then maybe have used those two cars for someone who appreciated the efforts.

wurlycurly that must have been very frightening for you. I think it deserved a police car too. I don't suppose they ever caught them? They could do real damage one day, imagine if they tried it on a frail, elderly person and pulled them over. One broken hip later and the old person might never leave hospital.

The police did actually attend the shop incident. Over two hours later...... the lads had tried to get back in another four times by then. There was a security guard at the door today.

I live in an area where there's not only gang related violence but also a huge increase of middle class wankerism. Local pubs are full of so called cool kids threatening to stab each other and some horrible mysoginistic behaviour. I feel safer in central London than zone 6 at the moment.