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Today the Met is launching the next phase of the New Met for London plan – and we are building on a mission that is working. We are driving down neighbourhood crime like phone-snatching and shoplifting by 14%, injuries from violence is at a 5-year low and we are arresting more than 1,000 extra criminals a month. Locally here in Barking and Dagenham we have also seen some real achievements including: Reducing serious violence on our streets, targeting gun and knife crime. An increase in focused stop and search have helped take 42% more weapons off our streets this year, with 29 more cases of serious violence reported compared to last year.Targeting crime and anti-social behaviour in our community. The number of shoplifting offences has dropped by nearly half in the borough — that's 482 fewer incidents compared to last year.More than doubling the number of positive outcomes, such as a charge or caution, in domestic abuse cases across Barking and Dagenham since last year from 97 to 211. The New Met for London: Phase 2 strategy will see us: Put you and Londoners across the city at the heart of precise community crime-fighting, investing more in our local neighbourhood crime-fighting teams, driving performance on the frontline and making sure you can influence where we focus our efforts.Harness the power of technology and data to make a profound shift in how we police London and Barking and Dagenham. Across the city the Met is looking at expanding the use of facial recognition technology and becoming even more precise in targeting the small number of offenders who cause the most harm, and the places and victims that suffer most.Build new partnerships and improve existing ones – whether with the public, private or the third sector – to achieve the best possible outcomes for you.As part of this commitment to listening to you, we hosted our Community Crime-Fighting event on Thursday 13th November 2025, where you told us your main priorities were for us to: Reduce drugs related anti-social behaviour across the borough.Increase police presence and visibility across Barking and Dagenham.Tackle serious violence offences such as knife crime and gang activity.Thanks to your input, we are now working hard to tackle these issues by: Increasing uniformed patrols on foot and on bicycles in hotspots and high footfall areas, especially in Barking Town Centre and Dagenham Heathway.Implementing our Winter Plan to tackle offences such as robbery and serious violence,Publishing more of our good news stories to combat perceptions of an increase in crime and to demonstrate the varied work my teams are doing. The full New Met for London 2 strategy is now available for you to read online. I want to keep the conversation going - so thank you for joining us on Met Engage, which was introduced to help us do exactly that. Wishing you a wonderful holiday season and warmest wishes for the New Year. | 
