Soho is a vibrant lifestyle destination to LIVE WORK PLAY. However, like many cosmopolitan areas, crime remains a concern. Police Sergeant Andy De Santis highlights recent changes and initiatives addressing safety issues in Soho & the West End.
It’s been a month since the new changes to our West End Policing Teams, but our focus remains the same – as part of the New Met For London, our focus is to tackle the issues that matter the most to our local community, targeting those who present high risk or high harm. We are currently trialling Evidence Precision Policing, where our analysts create clusters of high-risk so we can focus our officer deployments.
Challenges in the Nighttime Economy
Our main challenges present in the nighttime economy are thefts and robberies, and our message remains the same – Look Up, Look Out – be aware of your surroundings and your belongings. Criminals will target vulnerable people on a night out, trying to get you to hand over your phone and to look at your PIN number. We have a number of pickpockets in the area too, and drug abuse that can often work hand in hand with robberies. Some criminals will pose as drug dealers to lure victims away to commit crimes, so drugs are another challenge in the area. To improve our efficiency, we require the assistance of the local community – just last week we stopped and searched a male who was later arrested for a robbery. Some of our venues had already told us about this male and we used that information to target the other people who work with him.
Community Partnerships
Op Vigilant is an operation using trained Behavioural Detection Officers to identify people in Soho and the West End looking to harm and harass women and girls. The operation has a strong lead under Sgt Corcoran and his team, and we are looking to expand by using the knowledge of local venues and staff. The operation also takes into account the V100 – a rank based on evidence of harm to our most dangerous 100 males.
We also work in partnership with Westminster Council and Safer Business Network – the Westminster Council Night Star volunteers do amazing work looking after vulnerable people in the West End. To help us and the volunteers, please remember to drink responsibly. Local criminals tend to target vulnerable people, who may have their senses impaired. We would also ask you to try and avoid being out on your own and stay in a group so you can look after each other. Keep an eye out for anyone who may look vulnerable in the area.
We also work with Safer Business Network as part of Op Rana, raising awareness of the dangers of drink spiking and how it can ruin someone’s night. This includes local training to staff about what to do in the event of a spiking incident.
Feeling Unsafe on a Night Out?
- You can use Ask for Angela to tell staff you may be in trouble. This code-phrase will indicate to staff that you require help and a trained member of staff will then look to support and assist.
- Use 101 to call police about a non-emergency issue or 999 if someone is in serious danger. You can also use @MetCC on social media X to report crime.
How to Protect Yourself
There are three key things you can do to protect yourself and to help prevent a robbery:
- Stay aware of your surroundings and pay attention to who’s around you
- Keep valuables such as mobile phones, watches and cash out of sight
- Plan your route home
We would also encourage people to register their devices with Immobilise.com. The website allows police to trace them back to their owner when found in connection to a crime.
And if you see us out and about – do come say hello.
Written by A/Police Sergeant Andy De Santis | X: @SohoPolice
This article was published in the Autumn issue of My Soho Times magazine. View it online here.
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