The Metropolitan Police are arresting approximately 1,000 suspects monthly, aided by drones and high-powered e-bikes, as neighbourhood crime declines across London.
Figures released Thursday reveal a 14 per cent fall in neighbourhood crime – including theft, robbery, and burglary – over the 12 months to June, representing more than 35,000 fewer offences.
Met data showed a 23 per cent drop (23,311) in thefts from people, an 11 per cent decrease (2,943) in personal robberies, and a 9 per cent reduction (8,737) in vehicle offences.
Westminster saw offences plummet by over a third, nearly 14,000 fewer. A major crackdown on phone thefts also led to 13,000 fewer mobile phone thefts across London, with numbers halving in the West End.
Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: “The Met is also deploying technology such as live facial recognition cameras, drones and high-powered e-bikes to identify suspects and disrupt criminal activity.
“As a result, officers are now arresting around 1,000 suspects every month, while seizing knives, drugs, illegal e-bikes, stolen mobile phones and other suspected stolen property.”
It follows Sir Mark’s previous calls for phone manufacturers to make stolen devices “unusable bricks”.
In June, Apple announced a global security update making its stolen device protection feature the default setting for users, a move intended to make stolen phones harder to access and resell.
London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan said: “At the start of the year, we set out the huge strides the capital had made tackling violent crime. Today, I’m really pleased to announce that thanks to my record investment in the Met, the hard work of officers and London’s Violence Reduction Unit, further significant reductions have been made in neighbourhood crime across London.
“There have been 35,000 fewer neighbourhood crimes – a drop of 14 per cent – with robberies of personal property, thefts from person, residential burglaries and vehicle crime offences falling London wide in the last year.
“In the West End alone, we have seen phone thefts halved and 14,000 fewer neighbourhood crimes, following a doubling of officers on patrol in the heart of the capital.
“A new Command Cell in the heart of the West End, funded by City Hall, is also serving as a central point to share intelligence, identify suspects and help prevent robberies, theft and anti-social behaviour.
“With more than five million extra visitors coming to London during the peak tourism season and the start of the school summer holidays, the Met Police are building on this work with extra officers in hotspot areas, tackling issues that matter to local communities including anti-social behaviour, robbery and mobile phone theft.
“We know many people online and across the world have been trying to talk London down, but the evidence is clear – London is one of safest global cities in the world, crime is falling and we’ll continue working together to build a safer London for everyone.”
