Adam....poverty??
The ''youth'' I see in Peckham/Mitcham/Hackney/Forest Gate/Newham/Tooting ALL have very expensive phones / clothes / cars..me I work 56 hrs + a week and cannot afford any of their items...I think Adam you are talking rubbish. I voted 'none of the above'..so no tory boi taunts!

andy, london,

Johnson reminds me of Rudy Giuliani in his first days in office: Nobody believed that he was able to cut crime rates in New York, but he obviously did. Will Johnson be as successfull as Giuliani was?

Karl Gaard, Vienna, Austria

Let's rejoice all ye who are lonely in "The Big Smoke". As and from tomorrow we will all be able to HUG A HOODIE !!!!

Peter Hughes, Burnham, Bucks

its boris s first days and he is already talking rubbish.
crime is created usually in deprived areas due to poverty not because young people want to become gangsters.
as usual the politicians talk is related to disconnected views.coming from priveleged backgrounds cushioned from reality

adam, london, england

For a start, Boris should replace those useless PCSOs with real police officers with real powers. They fool no one and are a waste of valuable resources. Fact: you could have two fully sworn PCs for three PCSO's, a no-brainer, get to it Boris.

Brian Roberts , Plymouth, Devon

I hope that Boris isn't taken in by the smoke and mirrors crime statistics we have been fed since Blair became commissioner. He should insist on real clear-ups, i.e charges not a letter to the victim and suspect saying the crime has been classified as 'detected'.

Brian Roberts , Plymouth, Devon

Good start providing it doesn't stop at rhetoric. For the Met to do its job properly it needs to be removed from politics, freed of political correctness and liberated from the bureaucratic form filling and quota system laid on it by this government. Getting rid of Blair would be a positive step.

Richard Crow, Warsaw, Poland

To understand the genesis of the violence, it is necessary to acquire a more detailed, overall picture of the pattern of people's lives so as to redirect their energy. Crime is the result of a rising energy, wrongly directed, that needs to be more constructively channelled.

Jaap den Haan, Namen,

"rambling debut speech"

I hope everyone who voted for Boris watches his first BBC interview and debut speech. For a person with a degree in Classics and has probably had huge media and speech training it was poor and my 14 years old niece could have done better. Poor start from the "joker".

JC, London, UK

Maitreya says, for example, that politicians have a responsibility for the desperation of those addicted to drugs. People go to drugs because they are suffering from spiritual starvation. If people are so straitened in their lives that they cannot even eat properly, they will lead desperate lives.

Mahatma KH, London, UK

In the last thirty years London and New York have changed places. New York is now safer; the people more polite and helpful; the transport system works better. This has been done through real political leadership. Boris has the chance to do the same for London. Let's also give London some FUN.

Mike, New York/London, USA/UK

What a fantastic start for Boris!

Blair is a Labour stooge and should be ejected for his willful lack of performance and detestable contempt for his own accountability.

But why is Blair not reporting to or accountable to the Mayor or Londoners directly?

Lonodon is a big open wound now.

Edwin, Bucharest,

Dear Boris,

May we now hope that you will reverse that crass plan not to allow the Red Arrows Aerobatic Team to perform at the opening of the 2012 Olympics.

Some peole need a serious reality check and I believe it's coming very shortly, with luck it might even be before May 2010!

G C Edwards, Falmouth MA, USA

Well done Boris. Show what a Tory mayor can do. Get rid of Livingstone PC brigade - useless waste of money not to mention cause of much resentment. More strength to your elbow.

Ian Burgess, Bristol,

Mr. Johnson would do well to have a chat with Rudy Guiliani on his approach to attacking crime, root and branch, in New York City. As controversial as Mr. Guiliani may have been, none can deny that he demanded and got the coppers to collar the villains and make NYC safer.

Robert Evans, Anaheim, California

If Boris wants to be called ' The Bold ", he would cancel the Olympic Games and use the money to fight crime.

Desmond Taylor, Houston, USA Tx

Go Boris! If only somebody would actually do the same with central government. Small government is most definitely better.

Andy, Atlanta, USA

Long live Boris and the Conservatives!

Neil, Oxford, UK

The equality advisors are spending wodges of £100,000 that would buy a couple of extra bobbies. They are also creating a culture of resentment and entitlement in which crime flourishes.
So getting rid of them means London wins twice over.

Malcolm McLean, Bradford, UK