Mayor won't commit to maintaining police numbers

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 15th Oct 2008

Dee Doocey AM, the Liberal Democrats' policing spokesperson at the London Assembly, says she is deeply concerned the Mayor of London will not commit to maintaining the number of uniformed officers on London streets.

Dee says: "I really am worried about the lack of a firm commitment from the Mayor on police numbers.

"At a time when knife and gun crime are on the increase I asked for a firm assurance from the Mayor there'd be no reduction in uniformed officers on London's streets and he simply couldn't do that. The closest I could get was "it's highly unlikely" and this simply isn't good enough.

"It sends out a very worrying message to Londoners about the state of the capital's policing and is furthermore precisely the type of vague answer that's becoming characteristic of the Mayor."