Londoners are alarmed that their city has seen more murders over the past two months than New York City — as police across the pond deal with a surge in knife crime, according to reports.
In February and March, 37 people were killed in London, compared to 35 in the Big Apple, according to the Sunday Times.
Now local pols are even looking to New York’s Finest for crime-fighting inspiration.
“New York has been able to bring down serious violence through a public health approach,” Croydon Central MP Sarah Jones, who chairs a parliamentary committee on knife crime, told the BBC.
“We need a proper strategy that looks at all of the issues.”
The Metropolitan Police has investigated 44 murders so far this year, 31 of which were the result of stabbings. Eight murders occurred between March 14 and March 20 alone.
The total number of murders — even excluding victims of terrorism — in London has skyrocketed by 38 percent since 2014.
“London’s violent traits have become a virus,” former Metropolitan Police Superintendent Leroy Logan told BBC News.
New York City and London are similar in population size. The UK banned handguns in 1997.
In January, London fared a bit better, recording just eight killings — 10 fewer than New York.
London City Hall said it’s “deeply concerned” about the spike in knife crime, but insisted the capital “remains one of the safest [cities] in the world.”
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