The government’s Safer Streets summer initiative will run until September 30, aiming to restore safety and confidence in local high streets through more visible patrols, targeted enforcement and stronger council powers.
The move follows a sharp rise in crime across England and Wales.
National figures show theft from the person more than doubled between December 2022 and December 2024, while shoplifting increased by more than 60 per cent in the same period. Many incidents involved threats or violence against shop workers.
Police recorded 500,000 shoplifting offences in 2024 — a 20 per cent rise on the previous year.
More than 500 towns and districts across the UK have signed up to the Safer Streets initiative.
In areas such as Sutton High Street, Croydon town centre, Tooting Broadway and Kingston’s retail core, patrols are expected to be stepped up and known offenders could be banned from hotspot locations.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “High streets and town centres are the very heart of our communities.
“Residents and businesses have the right to feel safe in their towns.
“But the last government left a surge in shop theft, street crime and anti-social behaviour which has left too many town centres feeling abandoned.
“It’s time to turn this round. That’s why I have called on police forces and councils alike to work together to deliver a summer blitz on town centre crime to send a clear message to those people who bring misery to our towns that their crimes will no longer go unpunished.
“The fact that 500 towns have signed up shows the strength of feeling on this issue.
“Through our Safer Streets Mission and Plan for Change, we are putting officers back on the beat where you can see them and making our town centres safe again.”
From July, all areas will have named, contactable neighbourhood officers. Each force will also appoint a lead for tackling anti-social behaviour and increase patrols during busy hours, particularly in high-footfall town centres.
Speaking at an event in Derby, Ms Cooper added: “It is one of the most important things to restore confidence in policing to have those neighbourhood police back on the beat dealing with those very crimes that cause so much problem.
“And if we do not see the police on the streets, then confidence is lost. And I think that is what has happened for far too long.
“If shoppers do not feel safe, they will stay home.
“People will just stay out of our town centres, and that heart of community will be lost.
“I think these kinds of crimes have been dismissed for too long because crime erodes the social fabric that binds us together and keeps communities strong.
“We have made town centres the very heart of the Safer Streets mission for this summer, taking back town centres from thugs and thieves.
“At the heart of that is rebuilding neighbourhood policing.”
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “We are on the side of local businesses, and our Plan for Change is helping create the right conditions for our great British high streets to thrive.
“The Safer Streets summer initiative will play a vital role in achieving this by keeping footfall high, communities and those that work in them safe, and the economy growing.”
Local councils, including those in Sutton, Merton, Lambeth, Richmond, Croydon and Kingston, will be given enhanced powers to issue on-the-spot fines and exclusion notices to persistent offenders.
The Metropolitan Police is expected to publish borough-level details on deployments in the coming weeks.
Your Local Guardian has contacted the force for further information on patrols across south west London.
