Cities of London & Westminster MP, Nickie Aiken, spoke out in the House of Commons on the importance of local policing of our neighbourhoods and high streets.

From Nickie's policing and crime survey, which thousands of local people responded to, the top priority was to see more police on our streets. So, Nickie welcomes the Government's pledge to recruit 20,000 extra officers nationwide. Here in London, Government funding meant we secured an extra 3,666 police officers across the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police. We could have had an extra 1,000, but the Mayor of London, who leads policing in London, let us down and failed to recruit those additional officers.

Whilst out and about in our neighbourhoods, Nickie also hears from shopkeepers and retail workers about the shoplifting that is taking place. If we see the police in our neighbourhoods and high streets, that will prevent crime and stop shoplifting. Nickie is taking action through my Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour Plan to ensure the Mayor puts the officers he has been given out on patrol. Nickie also welcomes the Government's Retail Crime Action Plan, tackling the rise in shoplifting and violence, and supporting our communities.

The police do an incredible job, day in, day out to keep us safe. But they need us to report every crime and incident we experience or witness. Whilst it may not always result in an immediate police response, it helps build a picture and ensures the police can allocate resources appropriately. They can only do this with reports received by the public. In a non-emergency, for the Metropolitan Police, you can tweet @MetCC on X (formerly Twitter), report online at met.police.uk, or dial 101. For the City of London Police, you can report online at cityoflondon.police.uk or dial 101. In an emergency, always dial 999.

Watch what Nickie had to say in this important debate in the video above.