The Conservative candidate said he would bring in more uniformed officers to help tackle gang violence and a “general climate of disorder” blighting the Capital’s public transport network.
“I have urged that we reallocate some of the Mayor’s publicity budget for next year so that we get more uniformed personnel – PCSOs – on buses giving people a sense of reassurance and security which they don’t have at the moment,” he said.
Live CCTV
He then accused his rival, Ken Livingstone, of stealing his idea of putting live CCTV on buses but admitted that it would help police crack down on intimidating youths.
But he said, “The bus companies do not have any obligation, under statute, to hand over the CCTV [footage]. I would change that.”
According to police in some London boroughs, the relevant CCTV footage is only given to them in five per cent of reported crimes.
“We could do much better and I think we should have a bylaw to insist that CCTV footage is handed over by the bus companies in an effort to crack down on what I think is a real problem that must not be underestimated.”
Johnson said crime on London’s buses has increased by 2.4 per cent in the last year, and that GB pound 46m is lost annually in unpaid fares. He wants an extra 440 PCSOs patrolling the iconic red buses, backed up by 50 British Transport Police officers. There are currently just 330 officers permanently on public routes.
However, his plans for more officers fly in the face of advice given to MPs on the Home Affairs Select Committee last month by Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the Government’s independent reviewer of policing. He argued that there are already enough officers on the beat, but that better use needs to be made of them.
Community involvement
Mayor Ken Livingstone, who sets the police budget, said the current number of officers on London’s streets – 35,000 – is “broadly right” but that some tweaks might be necessary.
“We can flood the streets with police but wherever you go in London kids say, ‘there’s nothing to do around here’,” he said.
“Even if we had 70,000 police on the streets, a child that takes a knife to school can end up being killed with it in a fight and therefore a moral code is important.”
He said that despite the huge increase in CCTV, the wider community, including parents and teachers, was needed to help curb anti-social behaviour.
Livingstone admitted there was a spike of anti-social behaviour on buses after fares were scrapped for under-16s, but that the formation of ‘safer transport groups’ had since led to a 19 per cent reduction in the number of incidents.
Johnson said that, if he was elected, youths caught breaking a public transport code of conduct would have their right to free travel taken away – and would have to do community service to earn it back.
