Stolen goods seized in Westminster police ‘war on crime’

Officers from Church Street Safer Neighbourhoods Team were joined by the Maida Hill Task Force to target a property on the Lisson Green Estate.

A 19-year-old female and 20-year-old male were found at the address along with two suspected stolen televisions.

Both suspects were arrested at the scene and taken to a central London police station on suspicion of handling stolen goods.

The raid was part of a new London-wide Metropolitan Police initiative called Operation Hawk which aims to use community intelligence to target drug dealers and other criminals impacting the local community.

Westminster acting inspector Ricky Kandohla, who joined this morning’s raid, said: “The initiative really relies on the community giving us information that we can work with.

“We will be taking part in this type of activity on a regular basis and it’s a way of advertising the fact that we won’t tolerate individuals carrying out this behaviour in the community.

“If they are committing offences they can expect a visit from us.

“We want to encourage the community to tell the police about wrongdoings in their area and to show them that we are working with them.”

4,000 police officers will take to the streets today to carry out operations across every borough in London as part of Operation Hawk.

Launching the operation this morning, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe said the initiative will “tackle criminals decisively and directly”.

“It’s all about responding to local concerns and acting on them to crack down on crime rapidly and effectively,” he said.

“The idea is that we take our intelligence to a magistrate, ask for a warrant and ‘put the doors in’ as quickly as possible right across London.”

Mayor of London Boris Johnson also joined one of the raids this morning. He said: “Criminals beware – we’re stepping up a gear to crack down on the drug dealers, burglars and thieves that make our lives a misery.”