London's Deputy Mayor for Policing has admitted ridding young people of knives means changing an entire culture, but insisted: "We can and will do it."

Kit Malthouse came to the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith on Tuesday and outlined to an audience of borough commanders, councillors and members of the public how the Met is going to tackle crime over the coming years.

Afterwards he spoke to the Chronicle and was asked about the emotive topic of teenagers and knives.

He insisted police in the borough have made real strides in keeping a lid on the problem, but admitted it will take more than simple tactics to stamp it out altogether.

"Yes I think it is (a question of changing a culture)," he said. "But I believe we can and will do it. We need to somehow get through to kids that you are not safer if you are carrying a knife – quite the opposite.

"We don't know when it will kick in but I hope we will see real changes over the next couple of years.

"In the short term the only option we've got is to stop and search and I know this borough has been very sharp about that.

"Across London we have taken 9,500 knives off the streets – if just one per cent of those knives had been used there could have been 95 more murders.

"There have been big falls in crime in H&F. It is not one of the worst areas of London but it has got its issues."

Earlier he outlined The Mayor's key plans for the next four years, which are tackling violence against women and girls, giving Londoners greater value for money from their police and preventing teenagers entering into a life of crime.

The culture of the force, he said, would also have to change.

"Fewer people (in the police) doing more is the way we need to go. At the moment the number of officers on the streets in London is higher than its ever been in its history, but I think we need to move away from using police numbers as a measure of success – judge us on results, not numbers."

One of the force's toughest obstacles to overcome, he said, is how it is viewed by the public.

"We have got a perception problem. Robbery in this city is down by 20 per cent but it doesn't feel like that. The way people are feeling is often completely at odds with what we are telling them.

"People get disproportionally affected by single crimes. For example, if a stabbing happens they think stabbings are going on all the time city-wide.

"Communication needs to improve. There needs to be daily interaction and it needs to be normal for a policeman to say hello to a member of the public and vice versa."