Autumn days and darker nights

Autumn days and darker nights

Autumn is the season of chestnuts and Halloween, but it is also the time of the year when is dark earlier and many people feel vulnerable. We generally see a rise in crime levels when the days become darker earlier, and as a result, we created the Autumn Nights Campaign to tackle Anti-Social Behaviour and associated criminality directly.

Examples of antisocial behaviour include:

During this period, we plan to target the most dangerous offenders, maximise diversion opportunities and increase police visibility through targeted patrols. All these plans have the intention of reducing all crime and making the shorter days as safe as possible.

In addition, we use the Autumn Nights programme hand in hand with other Operations such as Operation Sceptre.

Operation Sceptre is a plan to tackle knife crime directly through weapons sweeps, targeting repeat offenders and intelligence-led information. These Initiatives and Operations are reliant on intelligence being fed directly to the police.

Below is a link on personal safety which we urge everybody to read to best prepare yourself and to take a proactive approach.

Personal safety: how to stay safe | Metropolitan Police

Also, due to the darker evenings, we have some years, seen a slight increase in reported burglaries. Whilst Merton still remains one of the safest boroughs in the Met, it doesn't hurt to be safe. Please check out the below link, but I always suggest as an easy way to think about home security is this: If you were locked out, how would you get back in? This will highlight the weak spots you might have become accustomed to, but here's the link as promised.

Protecting your home from crime | Crime prevention | Metropolitan Police

Have a lovely evening,

Dave and the teams.