Footage has been released of a police blitz on shoplifting in the West End - as the number of officers brought in to target the surge is doubled.
Video shows them swinging into action targeting prolific thieves caught stealing thousands of pounds worth of designer clothes, iPhones and board games.
Up to 80 officers are joining a team to focus on crimes such as violence against women and girls, shoplifting and phone robbery in Europe’s busiest precinct.
The Metropolitan Police’s move comes as it restructures its teams, preparing to lose 1,700 officers and staff.
Some 90 police are joining neighbourhood theft hotspots of Brixton, Kingston, Ealing, Finsbury Park, Southwark and Spitalfields.
Fifty officers will be moved to the anti-robbery Flying Squad, which will no longer lose some firearms capabilities.
But dedicated units protecting eight Royal Parks have been disbanded, despite fierce opposition from councils and victims, and 371 safer schools officers slashed.
The Met will also double its use of facial recognition technology as part of the shake-up.
Thief Omar Innis, 32, was spotted in the West End carrying a large number of board games and acting suspiciously on July 25.
Officers who had spoken to retail owners plagued by shops thefts stopped Innis near Leicester Square 10 minutes later.
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Further enquiries revealed he had struck seven times, stealing over £1,300 of items from the same Covent Garden shop in a month.
Innis, of Southampton Row, Camden, pleaded guilty to theft and receiving a 26-week jail sentence at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
Separately, masked raiders who stormed an O2 phone shop on Tottenham Court Road and made off with 100 iPhones and Apple Watches worth £100,000 were cornered minutes later in nearby Cranleigh Street.
The men, aged 18, 24 and 25, entered the store wearing balaclavas at about 7.17pm on July 24.
Devices were recovered from a car stopped by officers, a large machete was also found and the suspects arrested on suspicion of aggravated burglary remain in custody.
Zenith Lawrence, 33, was detained after stealing £9,000 worth of clothes from Free People, Peak Performance and Rain over two months.
He was wanted for recall to prison when he wrenched clothes from rails and helped himself to jackets off the hangar.
Town centre team officers spotted Lawrence in Phoenix Gardens during a proactive patrol on June 12.
He was held him wearing a stolen jacket, as well as other items.
Body-cam video shows him being wrestled to ground beside a Lime bike after trying to flee.
An arresting officer can be heard asking him: “Why did you try to run?”
His colleague says: “Mate, this is from the dancewear store from round the corner.
“Are you a little dancer?”
Lawrence was jailed for 28 days, fined and banned from entering Westminster for three years.
It comes as a report revealed knife crime has soared by 86 per cent in London in a decade.
The number of offences surged by 58 per cent in just the three years between 2021 and 2024.
Just 20 streets around Oxford Circus and Regent Street accounted for one in every 15 knife attacks across the capital, Policy Exchange said.
New Bond Street, Oxford Street, Regent Street and Picadilly Circus were all highlighted.
Researchers also claimed that offenders were being let off the hook, with more than 4,500 prolific offenders walking free from court last year.
According to monthly Met figures, shoplifting hit a record 102,227 in the year to June.
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In April, Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley warned his force was facing a £260 million budget shortfall despite additional funding from City Hall and the Home Office.
Sir Mark said on Thursday: “The Met is getting smaller but more capable.
“We have a laser-like focus on ensuring our officers and staff are in roles where they can drive down crime on issues that matter the most to Londoners.
“This is what the public expects of the police, which is why we are putting neighbourhood policing first, tackling the crimes that we know are impacting the public in the busiest areas, and making the capital’s streets safer.”
London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan added: “Nothing is more important to me than keeping Londoners safe.
“Thanks to record funding from City Hall, the West End will see a 50 per cent increase in the number of police officers on the beat and an additional 90 police officers working in new or enhanced town centre teams in hotspot areas.
“Despite years of austerity by the previous government, this is the latest example of the Met Police and I prioritising what Londoners want and delivering on our pledge to put high visibility policing at the heart of fighting crime and rebuilding community confidence and trust.
“These new and boosted Safer Neighbourhood Teams will focus on tackling antisocial behaviour, phone robbery and shoplifting in key areas.
“This fresh targeted action is happening in tandem with enhanced police and partnership work already underway in our high streets and town centres this summer.”
