London’s murder rate lowest on record: Police chief takes a dig at Musk, Trump amid ‘crazy polarised debate’ – Firstpost

London has recorded its lowest murder rate on record in 2025, according to official data, challenging claims that the UK capital has become dangerously crime-ridden. The figures have been cited by the city’s police chief as a rebuttal to what he described as a “crazily polarised debate” about safety in London, fuelled in part by comments from Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley remarked London was “an extraordinarily safe global city” and argued that evidence of improving safety was “brutally clear”. He reported London had become a focal point in a broader culture war, despite crime trends showing the opposite of what critics claim.

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Trump and Musk have previously suggested that London has descended into lawlessness, while Reform UK figures have echoed similar sentiments.

Homicide figures at historic low

According to Metropolitan Police data, 97 people were murdered in London in 2025. This equates to a homicide rate of 1.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, the lowest since comparable records began in 1997. It is also the lowest number of murders recorded since 2014, when London’s population was smaller.

For comparison, New York City’s homicide rate stands at 2.8 per 100,000, while Chicago’s is 11.7. European cities cited by Rowley included Berlin at 3.2 and Milan at 1.6.

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“London is safer than every US state, or thereabouts, let alone the huge cities,” Rowley mentioned.

‘Polarised debate’

Rowley declared there remained a persistent global perception, including among international business leaders, that London was unsafe. “You only have to look online to see some of that’s out there,” he declared.

“There is a crazily polarised public debate,” he added. “I find that quite unhappy and quite frustrating.”

He suggested that some critics ignored facts for attention or out of broader anger. “I think people have a whole load of different reasons for ignoring facts. I think some people just want online clicks, some people are angry with the world generally,” he remarked.

Political criticism and public perception

Laila Cunningham, Reform’s candidate for the London mayoralty in 2028, mentioned people once envied Londoners but now “pity” them, adding, “They say: ‘London’s a bit too dangerous for me’.”

Trump has previously referred to alleged “no-go zones” in London and suggested parts of the city were under sharia law.

Polling, however, indicates that Londoners broadly feel safe in their city, even as concerns persist around rising property crime, particularly phone snatching and shoplifting.

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Rowley noted the Met’s approach combined a “more relentless bearing down on criminals” with increased use of technology, including facial recognition cameras in busy areas.

“When we put our facial recognition kit and teams in a high-footfall, high-crime area, we’ll have 15 serious arrests in a couple of hours,” he reported.

He rejected suggestions that the force had focused on serious crime at the expense of antisocial behaviour. “We’re bearing down on all of these issues and you can see the effect of it,” Rowley declared.

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Vetting concerns and past scandals

Rowley also addressed scrutiny of the Met following a period between 2018 and 2023 when vetting standards were loosened to boost officer numbers. The Home Office mentioned last week that more than 5,000 officers may have been recruited without full checks, and there was uncertainty over the vetting of another 17,000 of the force’s 45,000 personnel.

The Met has dismissed 1,500 staff in the past three years for criminal offences or breaches of police rules. The Home Office has asked HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary to investigate vetting standards.

The issue remains sensitive following the 2021 abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by Wayne Couzens, then a serving Met officer.

Protests and policing standards

Rowley acknowledged other scandals, including racist, misogynistic and homophobic conduct by officers at Charing Cross police station, saying some had “done ghastly things”.

He defended the Met’s decision to “recalibrate” arrest standards at pro-Palestinian protests, following chants that had previously not met the Crown Prosecution Service threshold for hate crimes. He stated recent antisemitic terror attacks in Manchester and Australia had changed the context.

In a joint statement with Greater Manchester Police, the Met cited the chant “globalise the intifada” as a source of particular concern for Jewish communities.

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