Citizen’s arrests in the London Metropolitan police area have dropped by half in recent years, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.

Policy Exchange, who submitted the FOI request, said there should be citizen police academies set up to show members of the public how to fight crime.

Sky News report:

The number of citizen’s arrests in the Metropolitan Police area has almost halved over two years, a think-tank has reported

A survey for Policy Exchange found a majority of Britons – 67% – would not act if they saw a group of teenagers drinking and verbally abusing passers-by in the street.

About 27% said they would intervene.

A freedom of information request by Policy Exchange revealed citizen’s arrests went down from 3,755 in 2009-10 to 1,816 in 2011-12.

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Matthew Burgess
http://www.mattburgess.co
I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.