Overview
- Operation Baselife ran from November 3 for a week across London’s West End as a joint effort with local authorities and partners, deploying more than 100 additional officers.
- Covert officers arrested two suspected phone thieves at a Leicester Square ice rink, detained a Soho upskirting suspect, and halted a stolen Nissan Juke in Paddington using a stinger.
- Specialist interceptor teams focused on robberies and thefts involving cars, mopeds and e-bikes, while the Marine Policing Unit conducted patrols on the Thames.
- The Met reports year-on-year reductions in West End crime between April 1 and October 29, including knife crime down 22.3% and theft from the person down 23.7%.
- Superintendent Natasha Evans said the force will intensify pre-Christmas activity using local officers, specialist units and Live Facial Recognition to keep driving crime down.