News from Steve O'Connell (past staff): Met could offer anti-crime tips at ‘Pokestops’

Force could replicate Leicestershire police and take advantage of gaming craze

Neighbourhood policing teams in London could take advantage of the Pokémon Go craze and hand out anti-crime tips at popular game locations.

Players of the game are drawn to specific places such as parks or buildings where they can catch Pokémon or other items at designated ‘Pokestops’.

Community officers in South Leicester recently attended a Pokestop in a local park to offer free Smart Water phone tagging, which can help recover lost or stolen devices.

According to the force’s Twitter feed, officers tagged 42 phones during the exercise.

Conservative London Assembly member Steve O’Connell believes the Met could benefit by adopting the same idea this summer.

He said:

“Lots of people are talking about Pokémon Go and it would be great to see the Met taking advantage of this craze and encouraging community officers to visit popular Pokestops where they could really engage with young people.

“The game provides a unique opportunity for neighbourhood policing teams to get involved within the community and, at the same time, tag many more phones that could be recovered if lost or stolen. This is classic community policing and I will be urging the Mayor to get the Met to look into this.”