A focused police campaign across 20 identified crime hotspots in London has delivered significant results, reducing overall offences by 18 per cent during a summer-long operation. The initiative, led by the Metropolitan Police in partnership with the Home Office, also saw arrests surge by 34 per cent compared to the same period last year.
How the Safer Summer Streets Campaign Worked
The Safer Summer Streets campaign, which ran from June 30 to September 30, 2025, involved a shift towards intensive neighbourhood policing. The Met and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) deployed increased high-visibility patrols and covert plain-clothed operations in areas suffering from high levels of anti-social behaviour, theft, and street crime.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ben Russell, the Met’s lead for the campaign, explained the strategy: targeting specific hotspots was key to driving down overall crime levels, rather than spreading limited police resources too thinly across the capital.
On the Ground: From Seven Sisters to Ealing
The Local Democracy Reporting Service observed operations first-hand. In Seven Sisters, Haringey, an August operation outside the Tube station saw officers stop 68 individuals, with 15 positive searches for illegal substances.
Weeks later in Ealing Town Centre, a theft-focused mission combined uniformed and plain-clothed officers. They established a perimeter in areas where most crimes occurred and used the local shopping centre's CCTV room to track suspects. The offences here were often driven by addiction, with individuals stealing to fund habits. In one instance, a 44-year-old man was charged after stealing £90 worth of steak from a Sainsbury's, likely to sell it on at half price.
Acting Superintendent James Herring emphasised a collaborative approach: "We look to work with other agencies, like the council and voluntary sector, to find out why these people are shoplifting... to get some interventions." PC Emilie Waite, coordinating the Ealing operation, added that a "joined up approach" was essential for long-term solutions, balancing enforcement with support for underlying issues like drug or alcohol dependency.
Wider London Crime Trends and Official Response
City Hall has highlighted a broader fall in crime rates across London. In the 12 months to November 2025, there were 22,000 fewer offences than in the previous 12-month period, a 2.4 per cent reduction in total recorded crime.
Significant decreases were noted in several key areas:
- Homicides: down 16%
- Violence with injury: down 7%
- Personal robbery: down 15%
- Theft from the person: down 11%
However, Met Police data also shows concerning rises in sexual offences (up 7.9%) and drug offences (increased by over a third) in the same comparative period.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan stated: "The evidence is clear - our approach to tackling crime and its complex causes is working and the results speak for themselves... These results are testament to the hard work of the Met Police who I’ve backed with record investment." He pledged to continue working with police, businesses, and communities to build on these reductions in 2026.
