WOT NO COPS! London's crime hot spot Leicester Square rarely has proactive policing during week our exclusive audit of foot patrols finds

LONDON'S most crime-riddled hotspot is rarely proactively policed by the Met Police during the week, a probe by UK News and Investigations can reveal.

An audit of police foot patrols in and around Leicester Square throughout 2025 found that during the week there was rarely a visible police presence from Sunday to Thursday unless some other form of proactive operation, such as targeting mobile phone thefts, was underway.

The audit found that the force often displayed a good presence of foot patrol officers on Friday and Saturday evenings, but there was a noticeable lack of officers throughout the rest of the week.

Our revelation comes as the Met is about to start 24/7 patrols across the area from April 6 after a further 80 officers were drafted into the area.

Leicester Square is the capital's busiest night-time economy tourist hotspot, which means it is packed with tens of thousands of revellers throughout the week.

This has also made it a magnet for thieves, robbers and pickpockets targeting tourists for phones and other valuables.

In 2023 there were nearly 100,000 crimes recorded across the whole of Westminster with about a fifth of all recorded thefts across the capital happening there.

In March last year it was revealed that Leicester Square, Covent Garden and the surrounding area had 1,302 violent attacks, rapes or sexual assaults throughout 2004, which equated to a rate of 1,645 violent crimes per 100 acres – the highest across the capital.

Further crime statistics, released by the Met Police last October, showed that there were a total of 692,579 of all offences recorded by the force across London between January and September 2025.

Nearly nine percent (61,734) of these crimes happened in Westminster, which includes Leicester Square, with the most common crime being theft with 37,504 incidents over the period.

The next busiest borough, Camden, had less than half the amount of crimes at 30,845.

With so much crime in the area and the Met vowing to crack down on mobile phone thefts, the responsive nature of the force's policing of the area during the rest of the week came as a surprise.

The audit found a complete absence of foot patrols on the majority of midweek overnights, with police from Charing Cross station largely only reacting to emergency calls.

There were a number of proactive operations during the period that showed the benefits of having consistent proactive policing in targeting prolific offenders.

At the start of November 2025 an operation involving both uniformed and covert teams worked to target prolific offenders, the Met said.

More than 140 people were arrested as part of the week-long operation targeting crime in London's West End.

One hundred additional officers were deployed to tackle offences including shoplifting and phone theft as part of the force's Operation Baselife.

On  November 4 last year, two men were arrested after covert officers observed them trying to steal mobile phones from women at an ice rink.

Officers searched the men and found several stolen phones on them, with one returned to its owner.

The following day, covert officers arrested a suspect for an upskirting offence after a man was caught standing behind two women and filming their buttocks as they waited for the bathroom in a coffee shop.

After seizing the man's phone, officers discovered a significant number of similar videos taken around London.

The Met said that between April 1 and October 29 last year, officers achieved reductions in several types of crime in the West End compared with the same period in 2024.

This included a 22.3 percent reduction in knife crime and a 23.7 percent fall in theft from a person.

Supt Natasha Evans, who led the operation, said it showed "targeting prolific offenders in crime hotspots works".

"Our intelligence-led approach means we're solving twice as many shoplifting cases and taking hundreds of offenders off the streets," she said.

"Through this intensified action, we are continuing to ensure the West End remains a safe and welcoming place for residents, businesses and the millions of visitors who come here each month.

Supt Evans said local officers, specialist teams and technology such as Live Facial Recognition would be deployed to focus on the areas with the most crime "to keep driving numbers down".

But, the success of the operation raises the question of why the policing of the area is so reactive for much of the rest of the year.

It means the first responders to, often violent and dangerous, incidents in the area are venue security staff and other private security officers who carry out 24/7 patrols funded by private businesses.

In response to questions around the policing of the area, the Met revealed that: "From April 6 2026, the West End Town Centre Team will move to full 24/7 coverage, supported by the uplift of 80 additional officers."

UK News and Investigations put our audit findings to the force.

We asked: "We have audited the policing of the West End and through 2025 and ongoing it appears to be largely responsive.

"As in, despite being the busiest tourist destination and night time economy area in the UK, there is rarely a visible police presence except at weekends (largely Friday and Saturday night) when foot patrols may be seen.

"Other than that from Sunday to Thursday night police will be mostly seen only responding to specific incidents. There have been some weekends with no or little visible police presence, but to be fair they are usually sighted on Friday and Saturday evenings.

"Would the Met accept this as an accurate description of the policing of the West End. Does your detail on an uplift of 80 additional officers allowing full 24/7 coverage confirm that the area has been under policed?"

The Met did not confirm or deny the findings of our audit.

Supt Evans, the Met’s neighbourhood policing lead for Westminster, said in response: “We know that crime remains a key concern for those who live, work or visit the West End – and our officers are relentlessly focused on tackling it head-on. We’ve strengthened our neighbourhood policing presence by adding 80 more officers to focus on robbery, theft from person and shoplifting.

“From early April, we’ll introduce a new demand-led 24/7 shift pattern, ensuring officers are deployed where and when they are needed most.  

“Our teams already work during the busiest times, carrying out nightly foot patrols and working closely with local security partners. This redesigned approach will provide a more visible presence and help us respond quickly to incidents.

“The Met’s focus on targeted policing in the West End is already making a difference - neighbourhood offences are down 27.3 percent, personal robbery is down 20.6 percent and theft is down 30.2 per cent.

“We will continue working with our communities and partners to keep the West End safe.”