A former senior officer has issued a stark warning that police are ‘losing control of the streets’ amid the rising death toll in London.
Victor Olisa, the Met’s former head of diversity and head of policing in Tottenham, said the silence from senior officers was ‘deafening’.
Mr Olisa said communities no longer saw police and claimed officers had ‘lost control of the streets’.
As the number murdered in London rose to 55 this week, Mr Olisa claimed the Metropolitan Police were suffering in the face of budget cuts.
Three teenagers – Tanesha Melbourne, 17, Israel Ogunsola, 18, and Amaan Shakoor, 16, have all died this week.
But Mr Olisa warned the violence could get worse.
His comments also come as six teenagers were stabbed within 90 minutes of each other in a terrifying night of knife carnage across London.
He said: ‘Communities are saying we don’t see the police around any more.
‘It appears to people I have spoken to as though the police have lost control of public spaces and the streets.
‘The silence from senior officers in the Met is deafening.
‘They should say we need more information from the public, this is what we are doing, this is what the results are.’
Meanwhile the Mayor of London was forced to deny claims London had become ‘lawless’.
As he faced criticism amid the crime surge, Sadiq Khan, denied that London was becoming ‘lawless’, insisting he would be ‘happy raising his family’ in the capital.
He told ITV News: ‘We are a relatively safe city, but of course I understand the concerns people have when there are deaths caused by knives.
The use of stop-and-search by police has fallen under Cressida Dick +8
The use of stop-and-search by police has fallen under Cressida Dick
‘I don’t accept the police have lost control.
‘What I do accept is there are less visible police – that’s a direct consequence of police cuts.
‘There are fewer police officers the public can see because there are fewer police officers.’
And Cressida Dick yesterday said a new task force of 120 officers would target the most violent gang member to remove them from London streets ‘for any crime’.
The police chief made reference to the notorious 1920’s Chicago-gangster – who was finally foiled on tax evasion, after evading numerous murder charges – as an example of how potential violent criminals would be brought down.
The Met Commissioner spoke out after two more murders in London, bringing the total in the capital this year to 55.
But she faced criticism after it was revealed the Metropolitan Police carried out fewer stop-and-searches since she took the tole.
The force conducted 19,931 stop-and-searches in January and February this year, a drop of some six per cent compared to last year.
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