Overview
- Operation Baselife deployed more than 100 additional officers in the West End for a week from November 3, targeting shoplifting, phone theft, violence against women and girls, and anti‑social behaviour.
- Arrests included two suspects caught trying to steal phones at a Leicester Square ice rink, a man detained for upskirting in Soho, and two people stopped in a stolen Nissan Juke in Paddington.
- Met figures show year‑on‑year reductions in the West End between April 1 and October 29, including neighbourhood crime down 20.7%, knife crime down 22.3% and theft from the person down 23.7%.
- The NCA’s October phase of Operation Machinize saw officers visit or raid 2,734 premises nationwide, leading to 924 arrests, more than £10.7 million seized and over £2.7 million of illegal goods destroyed, with 450+ companies referred to Companies House.
- Linked London enforcement seized £240,000 of counterfeit goods, around 1,200 illegal vapes and £22,000 in cash from about 30 venues, with HMRC, Immigration Enforcement, trading standards and Apple assisting and several venues facing closure proceedings.