The Met Police’s summer crime crackdown is making a “huge difference” to London’s streets, a senior officer has claimed. The Home Office’s Safer Summer Streets campaign, which is running until the end of September, has seen officers across the capital focusing on high-visibility policing and increased presence on the neighbourhood beat.
Between 30 June and 10 August, there were 1,376 arrests in the 20 hotspot areas across London identified by the force – up by a third compared to the same period last year. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ben Russell, the Met’s lead for Safer Summer Streets, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that targeting crime hotspots was the key to reducing crime overall, rather than spreading the force too thin across London.
Speaking at the scene of a drug crackdown in Seven Sisters, Haringey, which is one of the 20 areas identified, he said: “The academic research will tell you that by focussing on the areas with the highest amount of crime, you have a disproportionate impact – not just reducing crime in those areas, but reducing crime overall.
“This whole campaign is about reducing crime and antisocial behaviour. If you look at our statistics, we’ve seen roughly half of the neighbourhood crime we would expect to see over the summer period – these .”
Prior to its rollout, the Met say they analysed crime data to identify the 20 town centres and high streets across London that have the biggest challenge with anti-social behaviour, theft and street crime. The force then deployed an increased police presence, including community support officers, drug detection dogs and plain clothed officers, across the targeted areas.
The number of arrests – 1,376 between 30 June and 10 August, up a third on the same period last year – represented success to senior Met Officers.
“Since the beginning of April, we’ve reduced knife crime in London by 18 per cent, theft by almost the same amount, and the research will tell you in our experience as offers will tell you that when you go to the hotspots with the most crime, you can make the biggest difference,” Mr Russell told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).
“The 20 hotspots we’ve identified through the summer plan represented less than 1 per cent of the geography of London, but they were responsible for over 10% of the knife crime. So we know what the figures are telling us.
“And when we go out and we make a difference in operations like this, we know it works, we’ve already arrest us over 1,300 people, we’ve charged, and taken to court, more people than we expected, and crime is going down.”
Over the course of Wednesday’s operation in Haringey – which ran from 10.30am to 6pm outside Seven Sisters Underground Station – 68 individuals were stopped and searched. Of these, there were 15 positive results, leading to 10 Community Resolutions being issued and one fine.
During the operation, a stolen moped was also identified. However, there were only two drug-related arrests made – one for possession with intent to supply Class A drugs, and the other for possession of ketamine, a Class B substance.
The low ‘success’ rate raised questions around whether going after the users, rather than the dealers, was the most efficient way to crack down on crime. Mr Russell said: “This is all about anti-social behaviour and helping communities to be safer and feel safe.
“We know in particular, there’s a strong link between drug use and theft and shoplifting and robbery and burglary, and those are the crimes that we’re really worried about. Our approach in policing is joined up – we know that a lot of the people who steal from supermarkets are doing it to fund a habit or to get by, but we also know there is absolutely an element of organised crime that is targeting venues.
“So that’s what we have to focus on. We are seeing people steal things from a supermarket, take it and sell it in another shot around the corner. And that’s completely unacceptable.”
He also rejected any claims that the Met were targeting areas with a higher proportion of ethnic minority residents after the LDRS noted that the vast majority of those stopped and searched in the Haringey operation were non-white.
“Look, the dog doesn’t discriminate,” Mr Russell said. “Part of the reason we use our drugs dogs is because that supports our officers to make unbiassed decision making.
“This isn’t about police officers standing in the street going, well, who do I think doesn’t right? How we engage with the community is really important. What you’re seeing is how we’re engaging with people- we’re having a conversation. We’re explaining why we’re here and we’re using a proportionate way of dealing with that problem.
“I think sometimes there’s a misunderstanding about what safety is like in London, that we’re here to help people feel safe and be safe. We’re also carrying out similar operations in all sorts of different parts of London. We probably aren’t going to do the same thing in every area. It will depend on local problems.”
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