Neighbourhood crime significantly falls in London, after the Met boosts local policing with record investment from City Hall

Theft, personal robbery, and vehicle offences have fallen across London, as the Metropolitan Police continues its targeted crackdown on the capital's most prolific offenders and crime hotspots. 

 

New figures released today by the Met show neighbourhood offences fell by 14 per cent in the 12 months to June compared with the previous year – the equivalent of more than 35,000 fewer offences reported across London. This includes: 

 

• 23,311 fewer thefts from person (-23 per cent)  
• 2,943 fewer personal robberies (-11 per cent) 
• 8,737 fewer vehicle offences (-9 per cent) 

 

Today, Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley and Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan will join a patrol in London to speak to neighbourhood officers and see first-hand how hotspot policing, more visible patrols and close working with partners has resulted in this significant decrease. 

 

The continued fall in neighbourhood crime follows a sustained focus on local policing, with hundreds of extra officers carrying out high-visibility patrols in neighbourhood hotspots and intelligence-led operations targeting offenders causing the most harm in our communities. 

 

With more than five million extra visitors coming to London for the peak tourism season, schools breaking up and long summer days, the Met and Mayor of London are determined to work with partners to do everything possible to ensure everyone out and about in London feels safe and is safe.   

 

In the West End, mobile phone thefts have halved and there have been 14,000 fewer neighbourhood crimes, following a doubling of officers on patrol in the heart of the capital.  A new Met Command Cell in the heart of the West End, funded by the Mayor of London, is also working to identify suspects and help prevent robberies, theft and anti-social behaviour in the heart of the capital.

 

By targeting these crimes, the Met is helping to make London a safer, more welcoming destination for the millions of tourists who visit the capital each year as well as boosting the police response to issues that impact communities most.  

 

Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: “Neighbourhood policing is about being visible, listening to Londoners and tackling the issues that matter most to them. That focus is delivering results, with neighbourhood crime down 14 per cent across the capital. 

 

“By putting more officers on the frontline and using cutting-edge technology, we are bringing more criminals to justice. We’ve doing all of this despite the Met shrinking as a police force with less money and few officers overall.  

 

“While there is more to do, these figures show that neighbourhood policing is having a real impact, and we will continue working tirelessly alongside communities to cut crime and keep Londoners safe.” 

 

The Mayor of London, 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.”

 

London’s Victims Commissioner, Andrea Simon, said: “Burglary, theft, and robbery can have a devastating and lasting impact, and I have heard first-hand from victims just how profoundly these crimes affect their lives. That’s why targeted work to tackle high volume crime is so important and I welcome the results today which reflect the work of the police, London’s Violence Reduction Unit and partners in listening and acting on the concerns of local communities.

 

“Whilst this progress is encouraging, we know there is more to do to ensure everyone in London feels safe and has confidence that, if they report a crime, they will receive the response and support they need.  Too often, I hear from victims who are left frustrated by poor communication about their cases and lengthy delays in investigations. I continue to raise these concerns with the Met, and this must change so victims feel heard, supported and able to see justice delivered after a crime has been committed.”

 

The largest reductions in neighbourhood crime were recorded in Westminster (-36 per cent), Waltham Forest (-26 per cent) and Camden (-25 per cent), Kensington and Chelsea (-23 per cent), Hammersmith and Fulham (-20 per cent) and Islington (-20 per cent). 

 

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.  

  

In Camden, neighbourhood crime has fallen by a quarter in the last 12 months – the equivalent of 3,500 fewer offences across the borough. 

 

In Westminster – one of London’s major tourist hubs – neighbourhood crime has fallen by more than a third in the last 12 months – the equivalent of nearly 14,000 fewer offences.  

 

The newly opened West End Command Cell is bringing together the Met and partner agencies to share intelligence, identify suspects and prevent robberies and thefts. Together with dedicated operations targeting phone thieves, the Met has helped cut phone theft by 13,000 offences across London over the last year.

 

Over the past year, officers on each Camden ward have concentrated resources on the offenders and hotspots driving the most crime, working closely with the council and other local partners to make communities safer. Officers are also using longer-term measures, including Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs), to disrupt prolific offenders and prevent further offending.  

 

This approach recently led to a prolific offender being sentenced to four years in prison and handed a 50-year CBO following convictions for multiple theft and burglary offences. The order includes strict conditions preventing the offender from entering Camden and Westminster, carrying drug-related equipment in public and entering several retail chains across England and Wales. 

 

In the 2025 calendar year, the number of murders in London dropped to its lowest in more than a decade, while knife-enabled crime fell by 17 per cent over the same period. The rate of violence in London is lower than many other big cities, both in the UK and across the US and major European cities like Paris, Berlin and Barcelona.