Undercover Met Police officers catch luxury watch robbers in the act in three upmarket London boroughs

Undercover police officers have been wearing luxury watches in three of London's most upmarket boroughs in an effort to bait thieves and catch them in the act.

The Met Police decided to launch their undercover operation after more than 300 of the luxury watches were stolen in six months across the three boroughs of Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham.

Their investigations after the spate of crimes, which took place between April and September 2022, pinpointed hotspots where a group of men were carrying out the crimes in central London. The suspects were targeting their victims, most who were intoxicated and in a vulnerable state, as they left pubs and nightclubs.

The offenders got into conversation with their victims by offering them drugs or sex workers before taking them to quiet side streets to rob them, or approach them from behind before violently attacking them for their property.

In response to the rocketing number of offences, officers from the Met Covert Policing Command and central London robbery team set up two operations to identify the robbers. As part of this, undercover officers wearing the high-end wristwear were sent to the boroughs at times it was known the criminals operated in, with the aim of catching them red-handed.

The Met has released CCTV clips of four incidents during the two operations in Soho which show the bravery of the officers who took part. Ben Russell, Commander for Met Intelligence, said the operation was part of the force's "precision-based approach to fighting crime".

He added: "This is a rare chance to give the public insight into the work done by our undercover officers. Undercover operations will always carry an element of personal danger and, while we risk assess all our operations thoroughly, all the officers involved demonstrated extraordinary courage and determination. By targeting the people causing the most harm and the locations most frequently linked to crime, we are having a greater impact on keeping our communities safe."

Caught on camera

In one of the CCTV clips, which you can watch for yourself by scrolling back to the top of this page, two offenders are seen trying to get a watch off an officer's wrist and there's a struggle as they resist. Fellow police officers then intervene and the pair are caught.

In another clip, seen by NationalWorld, three robbers are caught as they try to take a watch from another officer. One is tasered by police as he tries to flee, and falls to the ground, while another is tackled to the ground.

During another incident caught on camera, an officer is walking alone down a quiet street with an offender. He is then joined by four accomplices, who back the officer against the wall of a pub and attempt to rob him. They are caught by other undercover officers.

Watch robberies halved in a year

The undercover operations ran from October to December 2022 and March to October 2023 within Soho which, along with the other hotspots of Mayfair and the south part of Kensington and Chelsea, accounted for 40% of all watch robberies in London at the time.

Overall both operations resulted in 31 arrests and 27 charges, leading to 21 convictions to date. Of this group of 21, 14 individuals have so far been sentenced to a total of 26 years overall, with other cases pending.

They also reduced the watch robbery rate across not just the borough of Westminster, which Soho is part of, but also the boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham as well.

The first operation, which took place from October to December 2022, saw a drop of 28% in watch robberies across the three boroughs by the end of that three-month period. There were 43 watch robberies in October 2022 compared to 31 in Dec 2022.

Whilst the second operation, which took place from March to October 2023, reduced watch robberies by 15.8% across the three boroughs. There were 361 robberies from March to October 2023 compared to 429 over the same period in 2022.

Furthermore, comparing summer 2022, before the operations started, to summer 2023, the number of watch robberies was halved across those same three boroughs - 113 in July 2022 down to 55 in July 2023.

The Met Police have, however, advised owners of high value watches to be careful when they are out and about. Their ‘Look Up, Look Out’ campaign encourages people to pay attention to who is around them, keep valuables out of sight, and where possible plan their route before travelling. People are also encouraged to photograph expensive items such as designer watches for insurance purposes and consider property-marking and registering on a property register database, which can help increase the chances of retrieval of stolen items.

Anyone who is a victim of a robbery, or who has seen a robbery take place, to call 999. Police have also urged that people to not "risk their personal" safety if they are a victim of robbery.