The streets of London are currently in a very precarious situation. Following the rising death toll in London,  a warning was issued by a former senior officer that the police ‘are losing control of the streets.

Victor Olisa is the Met’s former head of diversity and currently head of policing in Tottenham. According to him, the silence from senior officers is ‘deafening’, and that many communities no longer see the police.

Victor Olisa, the Met¿s former head of diversity and head of policing in Tottenham, said the silence from senior officers was ¿deafening¿

In just this past week alone, the number of deaths has risen to a heart-breaking fifty-five. In this past week, three teenagers- Tanesha Melbourne, 17, Israel Ogunsola, 18, and Amaan Shakoor, 16- have been killed. Olisa claimed that the Metropolitan Police was suffering in the face of budget cuts and warned that the violence would only get worse. His warnings come just as six teenagers were stabbed within 90 minutes of each other in London.

Olisa’s full statement reads: “Communities are saying we don’t see the police around any more. It appears to people I have spoken to as though the police have lost control of public spaces and the streets. The silence from senior officers in the Met is deafening.They should say we need more information from the public, this is what we are doing, this is what the results are.”

However, despite all of the carnage that is going on in London, its mayor has repeatedly denied these claims. Sadiq Khan brushed off criticism about London’s lawlessness by claiming that it does exist. He claims that he would be ‘happy raising his family’ in the city. According to ITV News, he said, “We are a relatively safe city, but of course I understand the concerns people have when there are deaths caused by knives. I don’t accept the police have lost control. What I do accept is there are less visible police – that’s a direct consequence of police cuts. There are fewer police officers the public can see because there are fewer police officers. And Cressida Dick yesterday said a new task force of 120 officers would target the most violent gang member to remove them from London’s streets for any crime.”
The use of stop-and-search by police has fallen under Cressida Dick
Police Chief Cressida Dick made a reference to an infamous 1920’s gangster to provide an example for how any criminals will be handled. She finally made a statement  after all of the murders in London. Chief Cressida Dick is currently facing criticism for the number of stop-and-searches going down by 6%. Some believe that that may be a factor to the increased number of crimes.