09/12/2017 London News

There's more throughout the evening

on the BBC News Channel,

we are back with the late news.

Now on BBC One, it's time

for the news where you are.

Goodbye.

Good evening, I'm Assad Ahmad.

Residents in east London are being

encouraged to contact the Home

Secretary to complain about cuts to

policing. Hackney Council has put up

posters which ask people to make a

stand against rising crime in the

borough, blaming it on there being

fewer police officers. Here is

Caroline Davies. Deborah has been

serving Hackney's hungry for 20

years. This year there was a break

in.

So they climb over, came through

the window. As you can see, now

we've put a grill on it. They took

over £1000. We need more police

here. When you can see them you feel

more safe.

Money for the police is a

divisive topic. After five years of

cuts in 2015, the government

announced police budgets would go up

with inflation. But the Met police

and city hall say it's not enough.

So how do you get more money for

policing? This is one council's

ounce, they are asking you to ask

the Home Secretary.

We are really

feeling the bite in London and

Hackney, we've lost one in four

police officers, that's less police

officers to help keep the people of

Hackney say.

Do you genuinely think

people will write to the Home

Office?

I know they have, it's

something residents feel strongly

about and are keen to make those

concerns heard.

Does Deborah think

she will write?

Not really. I do

think... Don't think it's going to

get any better. We've been writing,

people have been campaigning,

complaining. There's nothing

happening.

The Home Office told us

there are more police officers in

London than anywhere else in the

country and that £11.9 billion of

taxes was invested in policing this

year. Nevertheless, Hackney Council

feel they need to pressure the

government to any avenue to push

their funding up. Caroline Davies,

BBC London News. Officers are

investigating a kidnapping south

London where a man wearing a Rolex

watch was held at knife-point for

more than two days this week. The

24-year-old victim was lured into a

house in Croydon where he was

stripped naked, beaten and tied up.

His keys were taken by the gang who

then burgled his parents house in

Sydney south-east London. The entry

of the suspects into the home of the

victim's parents was captured on

CCTV. Detectives say the victim has

been left utterly distraught and

traumatised. Metropolitan Police

horses are being shown off at the

halls of the year show in Olympia

this week. But when it comes to

their day job of patrolling the

streets of London there is a lot of

training involved. Mike Bushell to

see how they prepare.

They are the heavyweights of the

question world with some of the

bravest riders. Despite the size and

weight of these beasts, it's all

about the most delicate position. As

they jump through fire and manage to

remove some of their uniform while

jumping, and the saddle and

stirrups. This isn't about

showcasing skills at Olympia this

week. The mounted police use this

training to help them prepare for

their main job. Whatever they may

face on the streets of London.

We

are cops on horses, police officers

on horses. They are all professional

horses, they patrolled the streets

of London daily. This ride we do,

what you've seen today, it's all

about training.

In a public order

situation like riot of football

crowd they say one mounted officer

can do the job of ten on foot.

Six

times more likely to chat to a

police officer on horse than if they

are on foot. It's all to do with the

horse, nothing personal about PC

Dobson.

You are a lot more

approachable on a horse, I find the

different initially when I joined

the mounted branch, I couldn't

believe how many people stopped and

want to speak to you.

If we go to an

estate, you guarantee we'll have a

crowd around us purely to pat the

horse.

This is where it begins. The

policeman who joined the mounted

force have never been on a horse

before, they start this training.

16

weeks later the trust between horse

and rider is such that eventually

they will even run through walls

together. Mike Bushell. The

country's first ever Muslim

pantomime arrives in Stratford next

week and it's already sold out.

Of course it has all the usual line

as well as songs, all delivered by

Muslim characters. You can see the

full story on our website. Well

worth taking a look. For now, let's

take a look at the weather forecast.

Tomorrow will be cold and wet with a

chance of snow in north London and

Hertfordshire. Top temperature of

seven Celsius. The four weather

forecast follows. For now, from all

of us here, have a very good

evening. Goodbye.