Forum Topic

Shaun Bailey Pledge

Brilliant idea from the Conservative Mayoral candidate:"Burglaries in London are up 38% under Sadiq Khan. That’s 12,033 more homes that have been broken into, and 12,033 more families that have been made victims of crime.The Mayor’s job is to keep Londoners safe.And if residents aren’t safe in their homes, or in their neighbourhoods – or even on transport, then the Mayor is failing Londoners.Everyone should feel safe in their own home, but especially the elderly and vulnerable in our city.That’s why, as Mayor I will give a free burglar alarm to every Londoner over 65 years old.With crime levels spiralling across London, burglaries aren’t being followed up. And burglars aren’t being caught or prosecuted.In fact last year, only 4.8% of burglaries resulted in a prosecution.That’s not good enough.My Emergency Crime Plan would bring in new Police Burglary Flying Squads, so when homes are burgled, arrests are made.These 150 extra detectives will investigate burglaries across London and catch those responsible.This way, we can free up police time to keep our streets safe, and combat the root causes of crime."

Sue Hammond ● 2293d7 Comments

"Boris Johnson 'disappointed and mystified' at closure of police station being shut under policy he introducedForeign Secretary voices opposition to planned closure, despite having earmarked 65 police stations for closure during his time in City Hall"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-uxbridge-police-station-closure-constituency-shut-london-mayor-policy-met-police-a8035396.html"As mayor I’ll reopen 38 police stations to boost public safety, says Shaun Bailey."https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/shaun-bailey-police-stations-london-a4364631.html"In a 2005 publication, Mr Bailey wrote: "The police can't deal with the causes of the problem. To expect them to is one of the big myths in our world. Everyone talks about more policemen. Absolutely useless. Anybody who knows anything about criminals will realise that they are not concerned with police, they never have been and never will be.""https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/shaun-bailey-tory-mayor-london-police-numbers-crime-a9072186.htmlIt's all most confusing. I think that the political message is "Invest in burglar alarms. Their sales will rise."

David Ainsworth ● 2293d

Hi Nick. A lot of elderly people couldn't install an alarm however simple you think it would be to do.  They also may not have a relative who could do it for them. I would not need this done because I've had an alarm ever since I was divorced and have lived on my own but I think many others would benefit from it. Just to give peace of mind to the elderly I feel the cost would be justified. Would you be so dismissive if Khan had made the same pledge in his manifesto? I think not.

Sue Hammond ● 2293d

Barbara, I'm not suggesting that all crime can be eliminated via addressing these root causes but looking at Nick's figures money might be better spent on removing root causes and would yield other benefits to people's lives, and perhaps society and the economy in general? A police burglary task force that catches mores criminals would be a good deferent and PR exaercise but perhgap expanding neighbourhood policing and bobbies on the beat would be more cost effective, build up better community relations and perhaps even prevent simne burglaries? I'm not necessarily against more burglar alarms but, like Nick, just querying some of the assumptions and whether it's the mist cost effective way of using police resources. Just taking a moire holistic view 🙂

Michael Ixer ● 2293d

It seems there are approximately 1.1m people over 65’s in London. Let’s assume they don’t all live alone (although many will) so let’s say 750,000. The simplest types of alarms you can install yourself, you'll be looking at spending £125-£300 depending on the number of sensors you choose for your home. Systems that call or message you start at around £175 and range up to £350. Monitored systems can start from £99 and cost between £15-45 a month thereafter. 24 Nov 2018 figures from the internet. Let’s be optimistic and hope that Shaun can buy in bulk at just £100 per household, without any ongoing running costs.That’s not an insignificant  cost - 750,000 x £100 = £75 million. Completely bonkers.Nick

Nicholas Evans ● 2293d

Most burglary is done to fund drug use which is the main 'root' problem and one which needs to be tackled as a priority. If you've recently had your Range Rover or your Rolex or Picasso collection stolen then, yes, greed may be the reason.

Freddie Francis ● 2293d

A burglary flying squad an excellent idea. For so many reasons burglary not considered important. Could go a long way to improving relations between police and people. Michael,if the root cause of crime could be eliminated then we would not need any police,judges etc  Most of us actually live in the real world where crime is committed because people are unsatisfied as to what they have in comparison to what other people possess and greed becomes paramount

Barbara Shillabeer ● 2293d

It's an interesting idea It should discourage casual buglars. I wonder how well it's benn thought through; firstly, if the number of false alarms has been considered (how many 65 yo are there and how many are getting forgetful 🙂) and hence pthe potential waste of police time and, secondly, in my experience of infosec we considered it was good to strive for better security than our peers so that hackers would go after them rather than us - so will burglars just go for the properties of younger people? Also, if one has something really worth stealing thieves will try and with round the security. Still, if it significantly increases the risk of being caught it might work. I suppose if it makes people feel moire secure it could be useful. However, if the reason for casual burglaries rising is increased drug taking or universal credit starving people of cash then ultimately it may fail as it's not addressing the root cause.

Michael Ixer ● 2293d