(posted 7507 days ago)South London Press
NewsWar on street crime hits South London
Sep 30 2003
By Greg TruscottTHE largest ever police operation fighting South London street crime has begun.
Hundreds of cops have been drafted in to support the blitz on mugging hotspots throughout the boroughs.
Scotland Yard has made available the full resources of the Met for the round-the-clock offensive.
It will involve uniformed officers, mounted police, dog handlers, transport police and helicopters from the Met's Air Support Unit.
Robbery hotspots - including Tube and rail stations - will be targeted by the street crime task force which will be complemented with covert operations by plain-clothes detectives.
Custodial facilities have also been bolstered in anticipation of the high number of arrests.
The aim of the operation - named Safer Streets 3 - is to drastically reduce the number of street robberies in South London in October, a time when the number of muggings normally rises.
Similar operations have been mounted within the boroughs before, significantly reducing the number of street robberies, but this will be the first time the whole of South London has been targeted in one swoop.
A large number of resources will be focused on Lambeth and Southwark, with police in both boroughs working as one unit during the street crime blitz.
Detective Chief Inspector Glyn Jones from Kennington CID told the South London Press: "October is normally a busy month for street robbery and the purpose of this operation is to make a significant reduction to the number of offences.
"We will be targeting geographical hotspots where we know street robberies are committed, such as Tube and rail stations."
Commander John Yates, who is leading Safer Streets 3 throughout the capital, added: "This operation highlights our continued dedication to targeting and arresting all street robbers and wiping out the misery and fear they cause.
"This is a development of all our earlier operations focusing on street crime and street criminals.
"It's going to run for two weeks, but I see this running almost on a regular basis month by month for the rest of the year to focus on getting street crime down. You'll see some pretty extraordinary activity from all aspects of the Met; everyone is playing in this, from mounted branch to dogs, traffic to the specialist departments.
"Once this two weeks is over street robbers should not relax.
"This operation will be replicated in different parts of London over the coming weeks and months, on top of our day-to-day enforcement activity."