One thousand new police officers will be on the streets of the capital by the end of the year, according to London’s Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime.
Sophie Linden said the Met was on track to reach its target of 31,000 officers by the end of 2019 – up from 30,000 in May this year.
Officer numbers have been falling year on year since 2016, and dipped below 30,000 for the first time in over a decade last year.
But the Deputy Mayor, speaking at the London Assembly’s police and crime committee today, said the Met is “absolutely focused” on increasing recruitment.
She said: “Every sinew has been strained to make sure that they get the applicants in, they train them, they get them through the process and they are out onto the streets by the end of the year.”
The projected increase comes as violence in the capital remains high.