117 arrests as police crack down on London’s public transport crime

Police have made 117 arrests in a mass swoop on crime and yob behaviour on London’s public transport.

The operation on the Underground, DLR and Overground networks and main-line terminal stations targeted robbery, anti-social behaviour, low-level disorder, cycle crime, public order offences and fare dodging.

The operation involved 200 uniform and plain-clothes officers from the Met, City and British Transport police across London.

“We leave no stone unturned,” said Chief Supt Sultan Taylor of the Met’s Transport Command. “We’ll identify those who commit crime on the transport network and bring them before the courts.”

Transport for London warned that surveillance technology was being used to track offenders.

Its Policing director Steve Burton said: “CCTV coverage and policing teams on buses and the Tube means crime is at its lowest level for seven years on the transport network.”

Arrests in the two-day operation last Thursday and Friday included 26 for fare evasion, 24 possessing drugs, 12 bye-law offences, two racially-aggravated public order, one for criminal damage, one for stealing metal and one for trespassing.