The monthly murder rate in London has overtaken that of New York for the first time in modern history, according to official figures.
Data from police in both cities, obtained by The Sunday Times and the BBC, shows 15 people were murdered in the capital in February, compared to 14 in New York.
London murders for March are also “likely to exceed or equal” the US city’s, the Times reports. Of the 44 murder investigations launched by police in 2018, 31 have been a result of stabbings.
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The latest victim, a 20-year-old man, was stabbed to death after leaving a bar in the Earlsfield area of south west London in the early hours of Easter Sunday, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Mayor Sadiq Khan’s office said it was “deeply concerned” by the latest figures, but insisted that London “remains one of the safest [cities] in the world”.
Croydon Central MP Sarah Jones, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on knife crime, told the BBC's Today programme that the UK should follow New York’s example in tackling violent crime.
“New York has been able to bring down serious violence through a public health approach,” she said. “We need a proper strategy that looks at all of the issues.”
Jones added: “Knife crime and violent crime acts like an epidemic, so you need to go in at the source to cut it off and then you need to inoculate the future young people against it.”
Last year, the Metropolitan Police said years of funding cuts were partly to blame for the steep rise in crime in the capital. The force has had to make £600m in savings since 2010 and is tasked with finding £400m more by 2020.
