The Met Police could be set for the lowest staffing levels

The Metropolitan Police force could hit their lowest staffing levels by March next year.

The Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley blamed the shortfall in staffing due to inadequate funding as frontline teams have been under “high operational strain.”

The troubled police force has dealt with large-scale protests in the capital and in 2023 this cost the Met £70 million.

The Met are facing an enormous budget black hole of £400 million for 2025 to 2026, according to Sir Mark’s report.

The report which sent to the London Policing Board also said that there has been an increase in dealing with violence against women in London.

Sir Mark wrote in his report,  “By March 2025, there will be 310 police officers per 100,000 Londoners. In March 2012, this was at 350 police officers. This position is projected to worsen and trend towards our lowest point of the last decade.

“This is being driven in part by inadequate funding and by low recruitment over recent years due to the rising cost of living in London relative to other parts of the UK, and other challenges.”