zlacker

>>azalem+(OP)
Yeah, the government that let the strets go rampant with crime, that they don't even bother tracking anymore, is concerned about the people's "online safety"...

>>coldte+j6
I always hear this but it seems to mostly be made up? Like yeah, there’s crime in London, but less than in most European or American cities… seems like a narrative that keeps being pushed without merit

>>jama21+R9
I live in London and I can tell you no, it isn't mostly made up.

The crime rates in other places is irrelevant if the city you've lived in for the last 20 years has become noticeably more dangerous.

This is not "a narrative that keeps being pushed without merit", in fact the people who dismiss such claims are often the ones who live very insulated lives.

>>indy+cc
I live in London too, and don't recognise these claims at all.

I've been here 25 years, and most of the areas that used to be sketchy are now not.

>>vidarh+Sd
Which areas are you familiar with?

I witnessed the aftermath of a murder last week in Stoke Newington! (Saw that the road had been closed off)

I've seen women publicly urinating into drains on a busy road (Hackney)

There are massive increases in the number of homeless people (Tooting, Clapton, Shadwell), several times I've seen a homeless looking person harass women passing by.

Seen needles lying around (Shadwell, Commercial Road)

The general advice now is never to wear a watch in Central London, this wasn't the case 10 years ago.

I've seen security guards restrain people trying to leave shops in Central London after they shoplifted.

So yeah, some areas might not look sketchy, and these gentrified places (e.g. Stoke Newington) might be ok if you stick to the bars, restaurants and then Uber home, but for a lot of people these remain dangerous if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time.

>>indy+pg
I've literally spent hours walking around Shadwell and Commercial Road over the last couple of months, as well as places like Bow, Canning Town, Forest Gate, Romford that used to be awful. I've lived in Croydon most of the last 25 years.

I'm also not seeing any more homeless in London now than I used to see on Oxford Street when I lived by Marble Arch in 2000, for example. There were large encampments in the subways near Marble Arch at that time - I've not seen anything like it since.

> The general advice now is never to wear a watch in Central London, this wasn't the case 10 years ago.

Says who? I've never heard anyone say this, and don't know anyone who'd worry about wearing a watch in Central London.

>>vidarh+Jg
"Says who?" Then we are living in separate universes because this is common knowledge.

Wearing a nice watch in Soho, Liverpool Street, Tower Bridge is super sketchy and you're likely to get comments about how 'brave' (stupid) you are. These are just the places I've been to, West London is meant to be much worse.

Edit: Here are some links I found

- "Machete-ban petition launched as London watch robberies rise" https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-64991862

- Statistics for stolen watches from 2018 to 2023 https://www.met.police.uk/foi-ai/metropolitan-police/disclos...

>>indy+Ki
Again, never heard it. Never felt remotely unsafe. Don't know anyone who has had issues with it.

And can't find any actual data to corroborate that robberies have somehow reached such endemic levels.

EDIT: It gets comical to see that Met stats are now somehow trustworthy after the number of people here making a big deal of distrusting them. But notably the data shows the numbers to be small - in the hundreds per month - and having dropped significantly between 2018 and 2023. Furthermore, most of these crimes are burglary or theft, rather than crimes such as robberies or violence, so the chance of having them taken off your wrist is substanlly lower.

The article then covers an increase in "high-value" watch thefts from 2021 to 2022. Between 2021 and 2022 the numbers did in fact increase, and they were lower in 2021 than in 2023 as well. But we're talking 4885 watches total (not restricted to "high value") in 2021, of which about 1/3 are robberies. So you're much less likely to have your watch taken off you than e.g. your phone stolen.

>>vidarh+Sj
Just past the edit window, so let me also add that the article points out a number of "high-value" watch thefts that suggests about a quarter of these thefts on a yearly basis would be "high-value".

If anything, these articles have made me feel more secure rather than less secure - these numbers are tiny given the size of London.

Sure, maybe don't go around flashing your watch if it's worth tens of thousands of pounds.