The Met yesterday announced that crime in London was at an 8 year low, with murders down 3.6%, gun/knife crimes down 11.3%, sex attacks down 9.6% and burglary down 6.6%. The news story from BBC is here. I however had the misfortune to see BBC London News at 22.30 last night, and how did they report these stats? By going out on the street in Wandsworth and showing quick interviews with 3 people paranoid about how dangerous London was becoming, with the voice-over stating that the population – in essence – does not believe what the Met is saying. It’s the same sort of thing as Polly Toynbee has been saying for some time – that the NHS is actually improving, but the population is convinced the situation is getting worse. What are we supposed to do about this? When even the BBC’s television reporting has such a negative slant, is there any way we can be tough on the causes of the perceptions of crime – because that seems to be more of a problem somehow than the crime itself.