Waltham Forest will see the highest rise in police officers in London, it has been announced.

 

A total of 119 new officers will take the size of the force up to 642 by 2015.
This will include 91 frontline police, who will patrol the streets in safer neighbourhood teams.

 

Waltham Forest Council leader Chris Robbins has spearheaded a long-running campaign to bring the local force up to the size of other borough's with similar crime levels.

He said: "This is absolutely fantastic news and we’re tremendously grateful that the Mayor has answered our call for extra officers .

"Our local police do a tremendous job, but the truth of the matter is that the thin blue line has been stretched even thinner considering the challenges our local officers face.
 

 

 

"Despite limited resources we’ve already driven down gang crime and reduced violent offences like robbery. With a fuller, fairer allocation and the ongoing success of our anti-gangs scheme I think we can continue this trend."

 

Mayor Boris Johnson announced an overall rise of 2,642 officers across London.