Mayors of London and New York in first exchange on 'zero tolerance'

May 9, 2008, 11:31 GMT

London\'s new Mayor Boris Johnson. EPA/Peter Macdiarmid

London - London's new Conservative Mayor Boris Johnson held talks Friday with Michael Bloomberg, his New York counterpart, whose 'zero tolerance' policies on crime and anti-social behaviour he wants to copy.

The two men exchanged 'novelty gifts' - a Tiffany crystal Big Apple paperweight and a London Underground T-shirt - before starting their talks in London's City Hall.

The discussions focused on crime, and especially on how London can learn lessons from strategies adopted in New York for tackling law and order issues.

Bloomberg was credited with cutting crime in New York by 20 per cent during his initial term in office.

Johnson, who took office last Saturday after defeating Labour's Ken Livingstone, has already put more police officers on the streets of the capital and banned alcohol consumption on public transport from June 1.

He has pledged to recruit 440 new police community support officers to patrol the Underground, popularly known as the Tube, and train network as well as buses to curb anti-social behaviour.

Johnson has placed special emphasis on combating youth crime, especially knife crime, and said he would install hand-held scanners and knife arches at railway stations.

There has already been a noticeable increase in the number of police officers on patrol in Central London and posters have gone up on Tube stations to inform travellers of the alcohol ban.