The statistics tell a slightly more complicated story. You are about four times more likely to be murdered in New York and seven times more likely in LA, where the Buttons appear to have fled. It is not just in comparison with America that London fares well: the most recent Office for National Statistics data shows that London has a lower rate of violent crime than the average across the country. London does, however, have an overall higher crime rate, with burglaries and robberies significantly increasing in recent years (34,465 robbery offences were recorded in 2023/24, an increase of around 10,000 from the previous year). The Metropolitan Police, meanwhile, revealed that thefts of luxury items (watches, handbags, jewellery) rose by 22 per cent between 2022 and 2024, with 9,433 incidents recorded within a 12-month period.
How theft of luxury goods is putting London’s super-elite into a paranoid spin
