Spiralling London murder rate prompts scramble to repair damage done by austerity — but for many it is already too late
London now on course to end 2018 with highest number of killings seen for a decade
![Police at Tulse Hill, where a 16-year-old was fatally stabbed](https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2018/11/13/17/police.jpg)
With the number of killings in London on course to hit a 10-year high, debate is raging on what is behind the escalating bloodshed.
This year’s 121 victims have spanned generations, nationalities and genders. They have died as a result of knife attacks, shootings, beatings, arson and domestic abuse.
But it is a bloody spate of street stabbings that has provoked a wave of grief and anger, after claiming the lives of teenagers as young as 15.
The murders have sparked claims of “lawlessness” and “Wild West” violence, and London is now on course to end 2018 with the highest number of killings seen in the city for a decade.
But even if the current pace continues and 140 people lose their lives by the end of the year, the figure will still be way below the totals seen throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.
The number of homicides recorded in London peaked at 204 in 2003, after more than a decade averaging at around 170.
A dramatic increase in the use of guns by gangs fighting over turf was blamed for that spike, as drive-by shootings rocketed amid tit-for-tat violence.
A crackdown on firearms supplies and gang activity was launched, as victims’ groups mounted efforts in schools to turn children away from violence.
The number of murders started falling year-on-year, hitting a low of 83 in 2014 – when hospitals in England and Wales recorded the lowest number of treatments for stabbings since 1998.
But then the trend turned, and knife offences have been rising for the past four years to the highest level on record.
Police pin 2014 as a turning point, both for the level of violence and the drivers behind it.
That was the year when the National Crime Agency conduct its first official report on “county lines” drug dealing.
The business model sees gangs use children to run drugs and control their territory with violence and intimidation, and has been identified as one of the key factors behind increasing knife possession.
The same year also saw Theresa May announce restrictions on stop-and-search laws, amid significant racial disparity between those they were used upon and those who they weren’t.
Searches have subsequently plummeted, and some officers personally blame the former home secretary for diminishing their powers to detect and seize weapons.
The explosion of social media, where rivals taunt each other and post music videos laced with violent images and threats, is also held up as an aggravating factor in disputes.
Police fear violent attacks themselves are driving up knife possession by sowing fear.
As the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick put it: “Some young people are carrying a knife because they feel frightened, and then when they are angry or feel threatened they use the knife.”
But the question of how to tackle the bloodshed goes beyond the immediate causes, to why young people are being drawn into these lifestyles.
For many, the answer is clear – austerity. Youth workers point at the closure of youth centres and activity programmes by local authorities hit by cuts, leaving teenagers to congregate on the streets.
Social services and mental health provision have also been stretched, and school exclusions have been rising.
Police say the loss of more than 20,000 officers since 2010 have left fewer of them on the beat, both to deter crime and gather intelligence from local people.
Under Sajid Javid, the Home Office is scrambling to reverse some police budget cuts and implement new strategies on serious violence, the drug market, early intervention and criminal exploitation.
However, if the funding is not sustained, any benefits may prove short-lived — and for many, they will arrive too late.