Mayor and Met increase partnerships, patrols and operations to make London safer as millions head to capital for Black Friday sales and Christmas shopping

Created on

26 November 2024

Mayor and Met increase partnerships, patrols and operations to make London safer as millions head to capital for Black Friday sales and Christmas shopping

• Personal robbery in London is down by 5 per cent since April thanks to local community police work, targeted operations by the Met and the Mayor's Violence Reduction Unit's focus on prevention
• Mayor visits innovative new mobile police station in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and joins officers on patrol who are working to keep visitors and shopworkers safe day and night
• Sadiq meets local business owners in Stratford and hears how the Met's enhanced partnership work is targeting shoplifters with sting operations to tackle retail crime
• Met spearheading targeted work in busy hotspots this Christmas season, including Westminster, Westfield, Oxford Street, Battersea and major transport hubs, to tackle mobile phone crime

As millions of Londoners and visitors head to the capital's world class stores, shopping centres and local businesses for Black Friday sales and their Christmas shopping, the Mayor and Met police are working together to increase partnerships, patrols and operations to catch criminals and make the capital even safer.

Personal robbery in London is down by 5 per cent since April 2024 as a result of renewed action by the Met to target hotspots of robbery with increased patrols and plain clothes officers, and the Mayor's Violence Reduction Unit's focus on prevention and positive opportunities for young people.

Today, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, visited a new mobile police station in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and joined officers on patrol to learn more about how they are working to make the park and busy surrounding area even safer day and night.

With more people out and about as London heads into the festive season, the new mobile police station is one of four across the capital being staffed by police officers and PSCOs - to respond to local queries, act as a deterrent to criminals and carry out targeted local patrols on foot and on bikes.

Within weeks of the mobile Stratford police station being set up in October, officers staffing the station identified and detained three suspects for robbery. The mobile station has also received positive feedback from local residents, businesses and commuters in an area which is exceptionally busy during the pre-Christmas period.

Since October, North East London, North West London, South West London, South East London have been deploying their own mobile police stations - which can move around different areas to work proactively with local communities and also respond to where there is greatest demand, based on intelligence and local community needs.

This enhanced approach to local neighbourhood policing is part of the New Met for London Plan which is being supported with record investment from City Hall - not just to tackle crime but to rebuild public confidence and trust in our police which is so vital to policing by consent.

The Met are spearheading targeted work in busy hotspots this Christmas season, such as Westminster, Westfield, Oxford Street, Battersea and major transport hubs, to tackle mobile phone crime.

Officers working out of the mobile police station in Stratford have built excellent working relationships with business owners in shopping areas across Stratford town centre and are running regular Op Sting policing operations to target repeat shoplifting offenders. Officers are working effectively with local businesses and organisations to prosecute offenders and obtain Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs) to exclude criminals from returning. A new data sharing agreement has also led to the quick exchange of information and intelligence to prevent, deter and detect suspects of retail crime.

The renewed partnership, enforcement and outreach work by police and City Hall comes as London heads into the 'golden quarter' of trade which is so vital for London's businesses - generating more than a billion - and is part of the ongoing work to deliver a new Met for London where communities are put first.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: "As the capital's world-famous Christmas Shopping season gets underway, the targeted work police officers are doing in Stratford is a great example of the Met working with communities and local businesses to make our city safer and bear down on robbery, thefts and retail crime in all its forms.

"We know how important this golden quarter is for our business sector so I'm really pleased to see the police working effectively to bear down on the worst offenders - many of whom use the busy crowds and festive season as a cover for their crimes.

"Thanks to the hard work of Met officers and intervention and prevention led by London's Violence Reduction Unit, personal robbery offences across London are down by 5 per cent. But we know there is clearly more to do.

"As Mayor, I'll continue to invest in policing, so that local community-based police teams - like the mobile police station I have seen today - can be there when the public need them most. This is alongside our vital work investing in prevention and intervention at critical stages in the lives of young Londoners so that we can build a safer London for all."

Commander Pete Stevens from the Metropolitan Police said: "We are determined to make the streets of London safer and tackling theft and robbery is key to that.

"Thanks to excellent work from local officers we're bringing perpetrators to justice and our mobile police stations are helping us make London safer. We look forward to working closely with the Mayor and local businesses to continue to tackle this issue."

Shazia Hussain, Chief Executive, of the London Legacy Development Corporation, said: "The Park is one of the safest parts of the city and still benefits from the investment in security from the 2012 Games. We're delighted to work with the police to help residents and visitors to the Park and surrounding area feel as safe possible."

Superintendent Lucky Singh, Newham Neighbourhoods team, said: "We are passionate about delivering the strongest possible neighbourhood policing. While walking through the Stratford area we had productive discussions covering a range of issues raised by the community including robbery, shoplifting and violence against women and girls.

"Collaboration is key for us in tackling these issues and while officers on the frontline are critical to combatting crime, a holistic approach is also needed. We thank the Mayor for joining us and we look forward to continuing to work with our many partners in the future."

Jacqui Robinson, Ward Panel chair for Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park: "As a prime visitor destination and with a soaring population due to new residential developments, the Stratford Olympic Park Ward needs police resources to keep pace with the growth in the area, so I look forward to the implementation of the 'Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee' to strengthen neighbourhood policing."

Notes to editors

Background

Stratford Mobile Police Station

The mobile police station in Stratford is embedded in a busy thriving area in the middle of the Olympic Park to respond to local community needs. It is one of four mobile police stations in London set up to make London safer and its main responsibilities include tackling violence against women and girls, robbery, anti-social behaviour and thefts.

The police station is staffed by both police officers and police staff who also use bikes and carry out patrols within the Olympic Park to make the area safer and more welcoming for everyone day and night.

The officers work with the LLDC, Westfield Stratford City and local business owners to tackle violence against women and girls, anti-social behaviour, robbery and theft offences and build effective working relationships.

Since being established in October 2024 the mobile police station in Stratford has afforded the public with opportunity to have access to police officers and staff in this large open space. Within weeks of the police station being in place in the QEOP, officers staffing the mobile police station identified and detained three suspects for robbery. The station has attracted positive feedback from local residents, businesses and commuters in an area that carries heavy footfall especially as we approach the festive period.

Since October, North East London, North West London, South West London, South East London have been deploying their own mobile police stations - which can move around different areas to work proactively and respond to where there is greatest demand based on intelligence and local community needs.

Tackling retail crime

Police are working in conjunction with the Business Improvement District (BID) and Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP) to reduce retail thefts. Police are running regular Op Sting deployments to target repeat shoplifters and working with local businesses and corporate organisations to prosecute offenders and obtain Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs) to exclude criminals from the location. A data sharing agreement has led to the fast exchange of information and intelligence to prevent, deter and detect suspects.

Robbery Reduction Partnership

MOPAC has convened a new Robbery Reduction Partnership to address the increasing rates of robbery in London, which have returned to pre-COVID levels.

Alongside MOPAC on the Partnership are: the London Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), London Councils, Local Authorities, The Met, CPS, Probations, Youth Offending Service, Transport for London, the Safer Business Network and British Transport Police.

The partnership is working to ensure those places where mobile phone robbery is most prevalent are focused on by the police and that partners work together to implement crime prevention plans. The partnership is also seeking to ensure that there is effective focus on those who commit these offences, diverting and discouraging them from offending.

The Robbery Reduction Partnership has met four times since May 2024 - with the last meeting being held in August. There are no fixed dates set out for the partnership to meet as there is no agreed position on it's permanence yet. However the partnership are expected to meet at least once more before the end of this calendar year and on regular occasions in 2025.

Violence Reduction Unit

Since Sadiq's election as Mayor in 2016, City Hall has invested more than £100m in London's youth sector, and provided more than 500,000 positive opportunities for young Londoners, to help divert them from crime, including 350,000 through the VRU.
The Mayor set-up his London Violence Reduction in 2019 - the first of its kind in England and Wales - as part of an approach to tackling violence which is rooted in prevention and early intervention. Since the VRU was established in 2019, there has been a 23% reduction in homicides, a 25% reduction in knife crime with injury where victims were aged under 25, and a 25% reduction in gun crime.

It brings together a team of specialists who, across London, work together to better understand why violence happens and take action to prevent it now, and in the long-term.

The VRU's approach is rooted in prevention and early intervention, and it is a champion and a voice for young people and communities in the capital.

The VRU provides thousands of positive opportunities and programmes for young Londoners. Find out more here: https://www.london.gov.uk/programmes-strategies/communities-and-social-justice/londons-violence-reduction-unit.

New Met for London
As part of the A New Met for London plan, the Met is improving how they police more precisely, using technology and data to build intelligence and track stolen phones. This includes using 'Find my phone' data to apprehend offenders and locate victims' mobiles. This information is used to develop intelligence about common locations for where stolen phones are kept.

Between January and June 2024 officers have recovered more than 750 stolen phones.
To report a phone robbery or theft - call 999 immediately, or report on 101 or online.
For more information on how to protect your phone from theft visit: Protect your phone | Metropolitan Police.

For more information on how to protect your phone from snatchers visit: Protect your mobile phone against criminals on bikes and mopeds | Metropolitan Police.

Mobile phone crime

The Mayor is working closely with the Met to spearhead targeted police work to prevent mobile phone theft. The Mayor is empowering the Police with 1,300 extra town centre officers to target hotspots in London, with neighbourhood policing also being revitalised in high streets and local communities.

But currently it's simply too easy and profitable for criminals to repurpose and sell on stolen phones. That's why the Mayor continues to call on the mobile phone industry to deliver technological solutions that make it impossible for criminals to re-purpose and sell-on stolen phones.

The Mayor will be discussing what more can be done at a roundtable with major phone manufacturers and Home Office ministers at a roundtable next month.

In October last year, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley and London Mayor Sadiq Khan held a meeting with tech companies including Google about phone companies doing more to help combat phone theft after a rise in incidents in the capital over the previous 12 months. https://www.london.gov.uk/mayor-and-met-commissioner-convene-landmark-meeting-world-leading-mobile-phone-companies-design-out#:~:text=The%20Mayor%20of%20London%2C%20Sadiq%20Khan%2C%20said%3A%20%E2%80%9CToday,make%20London%20safer%20for%20everyone.

Last month the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, welcomed the introduction of new technology that will enhance security for Android phones and provide better protection for users, as part of work to 'design out' mobile phone crime in the capital and beyond.
https://www.london.gov.uk/media-centre/mayors-press-release/mayor-welcomes-updates-from-google-to-combat-mobile-phone-theft.

Look Up. Look Out

Thieves often target people who are distracted, so keeping your valuables including your mobile phone and other devices hidden ensures you're more alert.

• When out and about - be aware of your surroundings.
• Stay alert when walking along the road for criminals who might use bikes/mopeds or e-scooters to snatch phones/valuables.
• Try not to walk along with your phone or valuables on show.
• Earbuds/headphones can be a distraction.
• Plan your route and use forms of transport that others are using and avoid shortcuts in isolated places.

Protecting your mobile phone: Register your phone with Immobilise.com to make it easier to reunite you with your phone if it were to ever get stolen or lost.

Find your IMEI number by typing *#06# into your phone keypad and it will display a 15-digit number. You can use this number to register your phone free.

If your mobile phone is stolen you must get it blocked by calling your Network Service Provider. If you need help to do this, ask your parent or guardian.

Latest crime stats:

Crimes which have fallen over the Mayoralty (twelve-month period to May 2016 compared to twelve-month period to September 2024):   

• Knife crime with injury victims aged under 25 years (down 25%)  
• Gun crime (down 2%)   
• Lethal Barrel Discharge (down 37%)  
• Homicide (down 9%)   
• Burglary (down 21%)  

Personal robbery in London is down by 5 per cent since April 2024 - compared to the previous financial year: https://www.met.police.uk/sd/stats-and-data/met/crime-data-dashboard/.