END OF YEAR CRIME BULLETIN FROM LOCAL POLICE
Metropolitan Police Constable for Hampton Wick and South Teddington Colin Wills has delivered an end of year assessment of the levels of crime in the community through the new system.
The bulletin comes after a year in which the Parks Police for Bushy Park and Richmond Park has been disbanded, the front public counter of Twickenham Police station is due to close and the future of Teddington Police station remains uncertain.
He writes: “I wanted to provide you with an update regarding knife crime, which people around your area have highlighted as an issue of concern on our priority survey.
Message to Our Community
As we come to the end of the year, I want to share some positive news about the progress we’ve made together in keeping our neighbourhoods safe.
Across the South West Basic Command Unit which includes the Borough of Richmond, we’ve seen significant reductions in crime:
• Personal robberies have fallen by 15.5%
• Knife-enabled crime is down by 22.5%
• Knife-enabled robberies have reduced by 30%
• Overall, neighbourhood offences have decreased by 6.3%. Neighbourhood offences include: Domestic burglary, Robbery, Theft from the person, Vehicle-related theft and Cycle theft
In addition, SW BCU now has the highest positive outcome rate in the Metropolitan Police Service for sexual offences, at 16.7%, which is a 7% improvement on last year. This means more victims are seeing justice and support.
We’ve also made great strides in safeguarding vulnerable people.
Reports of missing persons have dropped by 20.6% overall, including a 14.8% reduction for adults and 23.1% for children. This is a hugely encouraging result and reflects the hard work of our teams and partners.
These achievements are not down to one team alone—they are the result of a collective effort from officers, staff, volunteers, and our community partners. Your engagement and support have been vital in helping us achieve these outcomes.
Public trust in policing remains strong, with confidence in SW BCU recorded at 85%, the highest in the Met. This trust is something we value deeply and will continue to work hard to maintain.
Looking ahead, we know challenges remain, but we are committed to building on this progress and continuing to put communities first. Thank you for working with us to make our neighbourhoods safer.
If you ever experience this issue or have information regarding an incident, please report it using our online reporting tools at https://www.met.police.uk/, speak to an operator in our Force Communications Room via our online web chat or call the non-emergency number 101.
Alternatively, you can stay 100% anonymous by contacting the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via their untraceable online form at crimestoppers-uk.org.
We are working on our brand-new strategy for how we police London and we want your help. Our New Met for London: Phase 2 strategy will guide how we deliver on behalf of Londoners over the next three years.