PRESS RELEASE

29 April 2003

Croydon now more dangerous than the Bronx says Ottaway
More likely to get mugged than in New York's roughest areas

Richard Ottaway, Conservative MP for Croydon South, today warned that violent crime has led to Croydon becoming more dangerous than New York's Bronx. A new analysis of recently published Met Police crime figures and NYPD crime statistics revealed that in the last year, there was an average of 4.2 robberies per 1,000 residents in the Bronx, compared with 5.6 across Croydon.
Richard Ottaway said:

"You are now more likely to be robbed in Croydon than you are in New York's Bronx. These figures validate the fears and concerns of Croydon's residents. No amount of gimmicky initiatives and spin from Labour or Livingstone can mask the problem of violent crime.

"Labour promised to be tough on crime, but there are not enough police actually patrolling the beat and it is not safe to walk the streets without the risk of being mugged."

Ends.

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Sources

NYPD website, April 2003.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/pct/pbbxpct.html (Bronx population stats and precinct areas)
http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/pdf/chfdept/cspbbx.pdf (Bronx crime statistics)

Met Police crime statistics, 23 April 2003, for year 2002-03.
http://www.met.police.uk/crimestatistics/statbody.htm

London borough population stats from ONS website www.statistics.gov.uk for 1998.