SHAUN Bailey today has said he could increase the strength of the Metropolitan police to a record 40,000 officers as he vowed to cut crime within 100 days of taking office.
The Tory mayoral candidate said he would increase the Met’s strength by 25 per cent with an extra 8,000 constables, while redeploying 1,000 officers to focus on violence against women and girls.
“That recruitment process will start on the day I arrive,” he said as he launched his City Hall manifesto this morning.
But the small print of the 56-page document revealed he would be asking the Home Office to cover the bulk of the £521m annual cost – prompting Labour rival Sadiq Khan to accuse him of “complete fantasy figures”.
The Government first proposed in September 2019 to increase the number of police in England by 20,000, of which the Met hoped for 6,000.
It is thought to have received about 1,300, taking its current strength to 32,475, paid in part by higher council tax bills imposed by Khan and the use of business rates.
A spokeswoman for Khan said: “These are complete fantasy figures from the Tory candidate that prove once again that he is not a serious candidate for Mayor of London.”
Baliey has also pledged to fight crime by install CCTV cameras on all 19,000 bus stops and on the Central, Piccadilly and Bakerloo lines and use £450m of unclaimed Oyster card balances to open 32 youth centres and fund 4,000 youth workers.
However, the question has been raised about the installation of CCTV will be done as many bus stops across the capital do not have power supply and trains supplies are said to be ‘old and insufficient to do so.
