London's Mayor Forced to Foot the Bill to Beat Crime Surge in Capital

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said 122 extra Met Police officers would join the new Violent Crime Taskforce subsidized by the mayor's office.

Describing the rise in knife killings across the country as "tragic," Sadiq Khan announced that the new officers, costing 15 million pounds ($19.5 million), would be paid for by City Hall and focus solely on violent crime.

Transport officers will boost the number of violent crime officers with the aim of removing as many weapons as possible from crime hot spots in London.

"Bolstering the Taskforce from its current 150 officers to 272 will allow the Met to be even more proactive on the streets of the capital, bearing down on violent crime and serious criminality," a statement from the mayor's office said.

However, the boost in numbers to beef up the mayor's response to violent crime has been described as "sticking plaster."

Stop and search encounters will increase in areas in London most affected by knife crime, and knife wands are now available for every school in London. Two hundred schools have so far taken up the offer.

Following a spate of fatal stabbings at the start of 2018, Sadiq Khan called on more schools in London to take up his offer of installing knife detection wands. "Schools have a vital part to play in our fight against knife crime by creating a safe, positive place for students, spotting danger signs and spreading the message that carrying a knife is more likely to ruin your life than save it," Sadiq Khan said in a statement.

Meanwhile, two men and a teenager have been jailed for more than 30 years collectively for carrying out 19 knife and acid attacks in north and east London.

The criminals targeted taxi drivers and people selling smartphones on website Gumtree, using acid and knives to rob and hurt their victims.

One of their victims who suffered life-changing injuries told the court: "Even after I gave them what was in my pockets, they kept pouring acid over me, just because they could."

"When I looked in the mirror and saw my injuries for the first time, I felt like I had become a zombie in just two hours."

Investigating officer Detective Constable James Rush, from the Enfield Major Crime Unit, described their behavior as "truly shocking."

"These males appeared to feel no guilt on their actions, using strong acids, alkalis, and knives, to rob and maim their victims without a second thought for the impact the injuries they inflicted would have," he said in a statement.

There have been 100 murders in London so far this year, the majority of the victims were aged between 16 and 24.