Overview
- Operation Baselife ran for a week from 3 November with more than 100 additional officers focusing on shoplifting, phone theft, violence against women and girls, and antisocial behaviour in the West End.
- Police combined uniformed patrols and covert teams with interceptors, a Marine Policing Unit, vehicle stingers and Live Facial Recognition to concentrate resources at high‑risk times and locations.
- Arrests included two suspects accused of targeting phones at a Leicester Square ice rink, a man held over upskirting in a Soho coffee shop, and two men stopped in a confirmed stolen car in Paddington.
- The Met reported year‑on‑year reductions across 1 April–29 October in key offence categories in the West End, including knife crime down 22.3%, theft from a person down 23.7% and vehicle offences down 13.7%.
- Force-wide, officers are making about 1,000 more arrests per month than last year and have solved 92% more shoplifting cases, with intensified activity set to continue through the festive season.