|
You raised shoplifting as a concern, so here’s a quick local update. 📋 Situation Overview
We've seen a noticeable increase in shoplifting incidents across businesses on Fulham Road recently. This update sets out what we're doing, what residents and businesses can do, and how we're keeping everyone informed and reassured.
✅ What We’re Doing – Our Action Plan
🚔 Increased Visibility & Targeted Patrols
- Higher foot and PCSO patrols throughout the day and evening – including peak trading times
- Plain-clothes and marked police patrols deployed at known hotspots and busy periods
- Reassurance visits to every affected business – speaking to managers, staff and owners directly
- Cuppa with a Copper sessions – pop-up times where you can chat with us informally
📊 Intelligence & Partnership Work
- Recording and analysing every report – patterns help us target the right places at the right times
- Working closely with local businesses: sharing photos, descriptions and alerts where appropriate
- Liaising with council, retail security teams and neighbouring forces to track repeat offenders
- Following up every incident – where we have CCTV or clear descriptions, we pursue offenders
🤝 Community Reassurance
- Regular updates via local social media, emails and notice boards – so you know what's happening
- Door-to-door checks in the immediate area
- Being visible and approachable – we're here to listen, not just enforce
- Reminding everyone: you are not alone in this – we take these concerns seriously
🛍️ What Businesses Can Do
- Keep CCTV clear and dated – it’s our best tool to identify offenders
- Log all incidents, even small ones – numbers help us justify extra resources
- Consider securing high-value items and keeping displays neat
- Share concerns with us – we can’t help if we don’t know
👥 What Residents Can Do
- If you see something suspicious, report it – don’t confront
- Use 101 for non-urgent reports; 999 if a crime is in progress
- Be aware but don’t be anxious – we’re increasing presence
 The Met is cracking down on street crime, like shoplifting, people doing drugs and phone-snatching. We’ve put hundreds more officers on the frontlines of community crime-fighting teams, upping visible patrols in the right ‘hot spots’ so we can deter and catch criminals. We’re now arresting more than 1,000 extra criminals every month and seeing ‘neighbourhood crime’ down 14%. But we know there is more to do. That’s why we’re stepping up our use of technology, increasing our operations and working with retailers to make it less appealing for criminals to commit these crimes in the first place. If you notice anything suspicious or witness anyone shoplifting, please report it as soon as possible. These reports are invaluable in letting us build a picture of when and where shop lifters operate, meaning we can be in the right place at the right time to arrest those responsible. For more guidance, see our page on how to spot a shoplifter. | 
