Johnson Boosts Police Powers in UK Crime Clampdown

LONDON – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is promising more prisons and stronger police powers in an effort to fight violent crime. The government announced plans to create 10,000 more prison places to ease overcrowding.

Police will be allow police to stop and search people without reasonable suspicion “if serious violence is anticipated.”

Liberal opponents who backed mass immigration to the UK say such powers are contentious.

Saying young ethnic-minority men are disproportionately likely to be stopped and searched.

However, figures show that young black and minority ethnic teenage boys and men were disproportionately affected, as both victims and perpetrators.

Opposition Labour Party spokeswoman Diane Abbott said it was “a tried-and-tested recipe for unrest, not violence reduction.” Official statistics show that violent and knife crime has begun to rise after declining for two decades.

The crime clampdown is the latest in a series of policy promises that Johnson, a Conservative, has made since taking office last month.

Crime Soar in London Under Sadiq Khan

Violent crimes have soared in Lawless London since Sadiq Khan took over as Mayor, new figures showed today.

Knife crime is up by more than half in the three years since Mr Khan took power in the capital.

Cyclist carrying massive zombie knife attempts to smash driver’s window in during road rage row in Croydon

The Mayor is accused of “complacency, incompetence and shirking responsibility” in the face of the city’s crime wave.

The figures emerged in a report compiled by Gareth Bacon, leader of the Tories in the London Assembly, to mark the third anniversary of Mr Khan being elected.

Knife crime has increased by 52 per cent, burglary by 17 per cent and robbery by 59 per cent.

Last year there were 135 homicides – a 24 per cent increase since 2016 and the highest number for more than a decade.

The Mayor is accused of failing to take responsibility and blaming other factors such as drill music and middle-class dinner parties for the crime wave instead.