Boris Johnson is claiming to have achieved his pledge to cut crime and disorder on London transport, five months after taking office.
Announcing that dedicated police teams would be deployed across 30 locations in January 2009, the capital’s mayor produced statistics showing that robberies on buses had fallen by nearly 38%, violent crime by 5.6% and "overall crime" by 16%, as a result of trials at three transport "hubs" in different parts of the city.
Johnson added that separate teams tackling bus crime already based in 11 inner-London boroughs would now be "made permanent" after "bus-related crime in the borough was reduced in the boroughs served by the teams by 13.6% in recent months."
However, the Guardian notes that the Mayor’s use of official police data is in contrast to his scepticism of this data during the Mayoral campaign. The newspaper reports ongoing efforts by the mayor to compile crime statistics that account for changes in definitions and categorisation of offences, allowing for more meaningful long-term comparisons.