Met Police and Sadiq Khan hail lowest homicide rates since 2014

Murder cases in London have fallen to their lowest level in more than a decade, new figures released by the Metropolitan Police show.

Police said 97 murders were recorded in 2025, the lowest figure since 2014, at a rate of 1.1 per 100,000 people, lower than New York (2.8), Berlin (3.2) and Milan (1.6).

The Met said this was the lowest number of murders ever recorded in London, taking into account population.

Youth homicides, which reached record levels in 2021 when 30 young people lost their lives, fell to the lowest level since 2012, when eight young people were killed last year.

The figures released by the Met come as the latest crime figures in England and Wales show the number of murders has also fallen to the lowest levels since current reporting methods began in 2003.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), around 518 murders were recorded by police in the year to June 2025; That number was down 6% from the previous year’s 552 homicides and 27% below the pre-pandemic total of 710 in 2019-20.

Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said “every murder is a tragedy” but fewer families were “torn apart” by violence.

London Conservative leader Susan Hall praised the force but said more action was needed to tackle other crimes, including violence against women and girls.

Sir Mark said the decline in murder cases was a result of police action against organized crime gangs and the greater use of technology, including live facial recognition.

“This is a product of the fantastic work of the police as we attack with ever more precision the most dangerous men who carry guns, recruit children into gangs, prey on women,” he said.

The Commissioner also praised the prevention efforts. London Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) was founded in 2019 by Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan. Sir Mark said it played an important role in changing the lives of young people targeted by drug dealers.

The VRU delivers targeted interventions aimed at preventing young people from drifting into gangs and violence, including placing young workers in police custody and hospitals and tackling school exclusions.

The youngest of the eight young people who lost their lives in violence last year was 14-year-old Kelyan Bokassa. Man stabbed multiple times while sitting on bus in Woolwich.

VRU director Lib Peck said there was “more to do” but data showed they were making “consistent” progress.

He added: “When we founded over six years ago, the youth murder rate in London was three times higher than today.”

Sir Mark acknowledged that some Londoners still do not think the city is a safe place to live and suggested social media content is playing a role in “increasingly angry, polarised, partisan times”.

“The truth is less and less present and more about opinion or mischief. So using something so objective is an important way of saying, ‘Okay, London is relatively safe.'”

Sir Sadiq said many people were “trying to persuade London”.

“Whether it’s President Donald Trump“Whether politicians are concentrated in Europe, in this country, or elsewhere in the world, I can understand why they hate London,” the mayor said.

“We are diverse, progressive, liberal, successful, but even London’s harshest critics will have to admit these figures are remarkable.”

something happened long fight There is a clash between Sir Sadiq and US President Trump, who last year accused the mayor of doing a “terrible job” and said “crime is through the roof in London”.

To talk Radio 4’s Today program Sir Sadiq has previously described London as “the greatest city in the world” and added: “Donald Trump is a bit jealous.”

He acknowledged that some Londoners felt the city was “lawless” because of problems such as phone theft or shoplifting, and blamed government cuts for many years of police cuts.

“I fully accept this perception of crime. We will solve this problem by fighting crime,” he said.

“Traditionally the Met Constabulary was amorphous and did not focus on high volumes of crime or violence against women and girls. We have changed that.”

Shoplifting has risen by 54% since 2023, but the Met Police has failed to attend to more than half of reports requiring police action.

Phone theft has also increased by 25 percent in the last five years, earning London the title of “Western Europe’s phone theft capital.”

Only 1% of these cases result in charges or conviction, and many victims feel justice is out of reach.

Khan called on phone manufacturers to use “kill switches” to render stolen devices worthless lest they fall into the hands of international criminal gangs.

He said reforms, including doubling the size of the West End police force, had led to a reduction in robberies and burglaries.

Asked whether employees of the store outside the West End should expect police officers to be present during an incident, Khan said: “They will come and do something now. Not only will the police come, but the police will now use facial recognition.”

“We have a database of people who are known shoplifters and thieves. We work with shops to import their CCTV and footage into our database, which has led to the arrest of many thieves across London.”

The commissioner and the mayor are also under pressure to improve trust in the police following a series of scandals.

Last week, the Met Police’s internal review, which examined the 10-year period to the end of March 2023, found 131 officers and staff committed crimes or misconduct after being punished. not properly vetted.

an officer, Cliff MitchellHe was allowed to join the force in 2020 after a review panel aimed in part to increase diversity overturned an earlier decision to reject him despite his alleged child rape.

Hall accused the mayor of “insignificant numbers” and expressed concern about the increase in violence against women and girls. grooming gangs He said they operate in London.

Hall said: “These figures need to be looked at as a whole.

“I certainly applaud the Met where it has improved, but let’s not just point to specific numbers, because that’s what the mayor always does.

“Women don’t feel safe right now and some of the statistics that are emerging show that they are not as safe as they used to be.”

He said some videos shared on social media about crimes in London had warned people to be careful about wearing expensive jewelery and watches.

“The phone rings every six minutesMaybe he’s warning people to be careful in this situation.

“It could possibly scare people. It could make people be more careful.”

Met targeting most dangerous sex offenders, mayor says Defined under V100 scheme and taking action against mobile phone stealing gangs.

Murder and knife crime recorded by police in England and Wales fell last year, according to the ONS.

But since the pandemic, knife crime has been on the rise in London; however, a slight decrease was noted in the latest annual figures. The number of such crimes recorded by the Met in the 12 months to June 2025 stood at 15,639; This was just under 15,644 crimes in the 12 months to June 2024.

ONS data also showed violence with injury fell by 14%, but sexual offenses rose by 11%.

Shoplifting and cell phone theft have also increased rapidly in recent years.

But the VRU says the number of admissions to NHS hospitals from people under 25 with stab wounds has fallen by 43% since 2019.

Roisin Kelville, hospitals operations manager St Giles charityThe company, which employs youth workers at four hospitals in London, said there was a “clear indication” that its work was making an impact.

The team is ready to support young people brought to hospital after being stabbed or shot to discourage them from drifting into further violence.

“When you’re a young person, walking around with intergenerational trauma, all these challenges in life as a young person, if you push that button at the wrong time, that young person explodes because they can’t control their emotions,” Kelville said.

He said that 229 young people were referred to them in 2023, and this number dropped to 150 last year. Violence normally peaks during the school summer holidays, but Kelville said numbers had fallen in the past two years.

“VRU created the ’21st Century of the Village’ mentality,” he said.

“They say, ‘It takes a village to raise children,’ and for various reasons the village has become extinct. Now there’s a huge collective effort.”

But Melville said he remains concerned about long-term financing.

“We have a model that works. We can’t stop right now because we’ve seen a huge decline.” [in referrals]We need to keep the momentum going.”

Oliur Rahman, co-chief executive of the Active Communities Network, also called for long-term and sustainable funding, but said it should be directed to grassroots community groups.

His organization runs a network of teams in Southwark, known as MyEnds, which he describes as local “unsung heroes” to build trust among Londoners who have lost trust in the authorities, particularly those from diverse or deprived backgrounds.

Rahman said young people now had more support after years of cuts to policing and youth centres.

“At that time there was no one to take them off the streets. Their parents had no one to talk to. There is a strong interest from young people in legal services and this is where youth work has a huge impact on reducing violence against young people.”

The Met predicts the number of police officers will fall from 33,766 in May 2024 to 31,258 by March this year. £20 million budget deficit

Sir Mark acknowledged it was a “challenging” environment but said police continued to make progress in tackling crime.

“What we need to do is be sharper and more precise,” he said. “That’s why we’re investing in data and technology, because it helps us find the most dangerous people and if you get them off the streets that will make the biggest difference.”