And there’s less and less of it around, possibly because police attention is occupied elsewhere. Over the last five years the Met logged no fewer than 15,000 non-crime hate incidents, a category I think should be abolished, which means police time not spent arresting shoplifters. The force has actually cut back on the numbers of front line police when it should be increasing them. This paper’s Anthony France says that the police will shortly be announcing increased numbers to its West End team, but he reflects, “I fear it’s only replacing those taken away in the first place, specifically, the Flying Squad”. So when the announcement comes, you know what to make of it.
