Met sets up specialist unit as antisemitic hate crimes in London hit two-year high

The number of antisemitic hate crimes recorded in April in London was the highest in two years, data shows, as the Metropolitan police commit to deploying 100 extra officers to protect Jewish communities. The force says a “community protection team” will be set up, combining neighbourhood policing with counter-terrorism capabilities, as British Jews face “some of the highest levels of hate crime alongside significant terrorist and hostile state threats”. The Metropolitan police logged 140 offences last month, up from 98 in March and 67 in February. April’s total is the highest monthly figure since the force changed the way it counts hate crime in March 2024. Of the 140 incidents in London in April, 51 (36%) occurred in Barnet, the north London borough that includes Golders Green, Hendon and Finchley, which have large Jewish populations. Among the offences were attempted arson attacks at Finchley Reform Synagogue on 15 April and at the former premises in Hendon of the charity Jewish Futures three days later. A further attempted arson attack targeted a memorial wall in Golders Green on 28 April. Golders Green was also the scene of a double stabbing on 29 April that is subject to a terrorism investigation. In Camden, which neighbours Barnet, 17 antisemitic offences were recorded by the Met in April; 16 were recorded in Hackney, 10 in Haringey and seven in Westminster. Overall, at least one antisemitic hate crime was logged last month in 21 of the 32 London boroughs. …