Mayor of London's powers over policing strengthened as MPA replaced

The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime has this week taken over responsibility for the oversight of policing in London, replacing the Metropolitan Police Authority.

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, vowed to pursue extra funding to protect the police from cuts and to boost police numbers in the capital.

Johnson added that he would use his strengthened powers to hold the Met Commissioner to account and ensure the police targetted the crimes that concerned Londoners. This would include:

• “Strengthening the Met’s response to serious youth violence including knife crime
• Ensuring London has enough front line police officers on the streets
• Targeting robbery, burglary and drug dealing in every borough
• Getting tough on gangs and tackling re-offending rates.”

The strengthening of the Mayor’s powers comes as the rest of the country builds up to the election of Police and Crime Commissioners in November 2012.

Johnson said he would personally oversee the policing budget and meet with the Met Commissioner, Bernard Hogan Howe, to discuss policing issues.

The MOPC will be led by Kit Malthouse, the Deputy Mayor for Policing, and manage an annual budget of £11m. Key areas of work will include: operational policing and crime reduction (including at the 2012 Olympics and Paralympic Games); gangs; and criminal justice (including decreasing demand within the criminal justice system).

The MOPC’s work will be scrutinised by a Police and Crime Committee consisting of 12 elected members of the London Assembly.

Boris Johnson said: “Protecting our police force and getting more officers out pounding the streets is more crucial than ever. We’ve taken thousands of knives off the streets and prioritised youth violence, but we need to do even more to crackdown on criminals.

“Londoners rightly expect to live in a safe city and I’ll now be keeping an even closer eye on every aspect of policing, ensuring more than ever that the crimes that most concern Londoners are addressed.“

Nick Herbert, Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice, said: “The introduction of directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners is part of our reform agenda which will free the police to fight crime at the national and local level, deliver better value for the taxpayer and give the public a stronger voice. The people of London have from today a stronger voice in how their streets are policed and will be able to turn to the Mayor of London to hold the police to account on their behalf.”