There are two things that we can let Londoners know about Ken’s policing pledge and they are that police numbers will be restored and that Safer Neighbourhood Teams will be safe. But will these policies really make any difference to the safety of London streets? I believe they will.

As a former prison officer and now working with the London probation I’m used to working with offenders after they have entered the criminal justice system (the debate as to how to rehabilitate these offenders back into the community is a whole separate article). However, after 10 years of working with those who have entered into a life of crime — from knife-wielding youth offenders to drug-dependent burglars – I think that the pledge could have a real impact.

Ken has pledged to restore Boris cuts of 1,700 police officers and 300 safer neighbourhood team sergeants across London. As the GLA candidate in Bexley & Bromley, the Conservative-held outer-London constituency, I’ve seen local people shocked by Boris’s soft-on-crime, tough-on-the-police approach. Many believe that the allocation of resources on the beat before criminal activity even starts will act as a deterrent Boris doesn’t seem to understand that people want to feel safe, he doesn’t understand that the safer neighbourhood teams are valued by communities in every part of London.

Knife crime among young people is up by 13 per cent. Ken plans to address knife crime against young people by offering all 432 state funded secondary schools across London a dedicated police officer committed to tackling knife crime. The aim will be to provide better intelligence, increased detection levels and better relationships between young people and the police. That relationship is key to the way young people see our police – I would hope that they are seen as protectors and not oppressors. However, there seems to be a growing gulf between a minority of young people in our capital and the police. With allegations of racism in the force surfacing in recent weeks, I don’t want us to go backwards to the 1980s when whole communities felts victimised. The Met has a difficult job to do – I believe they need to be given the resources that they need to  clamp down hard on knife crime, balanced by a Labour mayor who understands the importance developing the force so that it can keep  the trust of the  community  that it serves.

While there has been a long-term pattern of falling crime in London, many Londoners will be worried that serious crimes, such as mugging, burglary, rape and knife crime are all rising. In the last year (up till November 2011): robbery is up by 13 per cent, burglary is up by 8.8 per cent.

And they wonder why people feel unsafe in London! The Tories can tell Londoners until they are blue in the face that crime is falling, but the fact is that it’s plain to see that policing London’s streets is getting more difficult. So perhaps what we are really talking about is confidence? After the summer disturbances has our confidence been knocked? Do our police feel confident that they have the officers and resources to protect themselves and us? Unfortunately, I think that we, as a city, have been shaken. We have a mayor who pretends to be on the side of our police – a true Conservative tough on law and order – yet he’s the one that’s signed off the cuts that will cripple our force.

After speaking to probation officers I have concerns about the cuts in safer neighbourhood teams, which help to affectively monitor offenders in the area. This has alarmed me and is a direct result of the cuts and which are having impact on the safety of our streets.

I have every confidence that Ken would address rising knife crime, giving us back our confidence and that he will support London’s police force at a time when they need it the most. Investment is needed at a much earlier stage if we are to see a significant drop in crime and change in the pattern among youth crime in particular in London. That is a campaign that I’m sure Ken will be eager to lead and take to the coalition government.

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Josephine Channer is Labour’s GLA candidate for Bromley and Bexley. To help with the campaign and for updates, join Josie’s Facebook group

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Photo: The CBI