When I visit family abroad, they always want to know one thing: “Is London safe?” My answer has always been: well, obviously, otherwise I wouldn’t live there.

Recently, however, the question has taken on new relevance beyond the interest of my more sheltered relatives. If you’re on TikTok, Instagram or neighbourhood apps like Nextdoor, you might have spotted posts about how London has grown increasingly lawless.

Videos ranking the most dangerous boroughs, comments about how gangs, knife crime and theft have engulfed the city – I’ve even seen one content creator claim that taking a shortcut is enough to significantly increase your chances of “getting shanked [stabbed]”. An analysis from Kings College London lecturer Dr Mark J. Hill shows that posts on Reddit alone contributing to this narrative have increased from 874 in 2008 to almost 260,000 in 2024.

You might expect me to agree with some of these posts. I’ve lived here for over 15 years and in that time, I’ve had my phone snatched out of my hand twice, both times in the exact same neighbourhood. I had to........

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