No decision made on cutting detective numbers - Met

Concerns have been raised about a rise in violent crime in London

The Metropolitan Police said no decision had been made to cut the number of murder detectives in London, following media reports of a shakeup to frontline policing.

Detectives are concerned over plans to move highly experienced investigators from the homicide command to fill gaps in other units tackling crimes such as burglary and assault, reported the Daily Telegraph.

The changes are said to be intended to address a shortfall in recruitment and to ensure the best detectives are spread across the force.

It comes at a time when concerns have been raised about violent crime in the capital.

Rise in homicide and knife crime

Last year, homicide officers investigated 110 murders, compared with 109 the previous year.

Knife crime rose by 15%, with 1,377 recorded offences between November 2022 and November 2023.

Responding to the reports, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Ward said: "We are determined to deliver the service that Londoners deserve. This includes putting more of our great officers into communities.

"No decisions have been taken about changes to any teams."

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Ward said the force was "determined to deliver the service that Londoners deserve"

Earlier this week, the Met's Violent Crime Task Force, a unit which was formed in 2018 in response to a surge in violence, announced on social media that it had been disbanded.

A post on X said: "1000s of arrests later, we have now moved from a dedicated taskforce to more local proactive teams, who now benefit from our experience."

Local policing 'creaking at seams'

As outlined in its Force Management Statement, the Met has a shortfall of about 1,000 officers and has warned that the number of inexperienced officers within local policing "presents a risk to the quality of investigations".

At the same time, the force is under pressure to make a series of reforms to try to restore the public's trust and confidence.

The Met says it is putting more of its officers into community policing

A review by Baroness Casey in March found serious failings, including in local policing.

The review described basic command units which were "under-resourced and creaking at the seams", with less knowledge of local communities and longer response times.

It also found concerns over the lack of accountability of the Violent Crime Task Force, which was seen as "parachuting in" without "sufficient sensitivity" by some local officers.

Among the recommendations in the report were that the Met should "build a frontline policing service for London which is revered and well-resourced as its central specialist teams".