Aimed at crackdown on crime and anti-social behavior during a winter period, the Winter Nights Operation includes coordinated everyday policing activities and covers all 32 boroughs of London.
"This operation has seen all 32 boroughs working together to enable the Met to intensify its work to keep the public safe and make the streets and roads hostile territory for criminals. The coordinated and intelligence-led policing approach gave officers the opportunity to proactively and reactively deal with any emerging issues," Chief Superintendent Simon Messinger, the Met's operational lead for Winter Nights, said.
"The arrests made included 334 arrests following stop and search and 106 arrests for offensive weapon and for knife possession offences," the press release noted.
READ MORE: London Tube Station Evacuated by Police After Reports of Gunshots (PHOTO, VIDEO)
According to the press release, comprised of other sub-operations, the Winter Nights had also targeted scooter, moped and motorbike crime; criminal activity at winter markets; and weapon crime with a total of 278 knives, 61 offensive weapons and 20 firearms recovered.
What @metpoliceuk are doing in London is absolutely amazing! Since the launch of Operation Winter Nights, it has netted over 900 arrests and taken 278 knives off to make the streets and roads hostile territory for criminals https://t.co/smFrSeOYHX pic.twitter.com/MLLRR5NYRU
— The Story of Mischievous Martin (@mischmartinpod) December 29, 2017
The press release stressed that the operation had seen an increase in visible police officers and neighborhoods policing, the active use of technical advances and a variety of tactics, including intelligence-led policing approach and the engagement of detectives conducting specialized investigations and operations.
The United Kingdom's capital has faced a wave of terror attacks this year, including car-ramming incidents at Finsbury Park, on London Bridge and Westminster Bridge, and a London tube bombing, putting UK security forces on high alert.
