Hammersmith and Fulham Council's Law Enforcement Team (LET) has significantly increased its patrol activity by over 71% in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period last year, outstripping a 15% rise in service requests. This enhanced visibility, particularly in busy public spaces, housing estates, and known anti-social behaviour (ASB) hotspots, is attributed to the adoption of a new mobile app that allows officers to spend more time in the field.
The LET, which focuses on tackling environmental crime and ASB, saw a substantial increase in patrols across Highways and District Centres, rising by nearly 79%. Housing patrols also saw a significant proportional increase of almost 90%, reflecting ongoing work to address ASB and estate management concerns. Targeted ASB patrols increased by over 68%, with a focus on preventing issues from escalating.
Mobile App Boosts Field Presence
Mohammed Basith, Law Enforcement Manager, stated that the new mobile app has transformed operations. The LET App, launched on April 1, 2025, enables officers to raise new service requests, update existing cases, record inspection findings, and add case notes directly from the field,
eliminating the need to return to the office for administrative tasks. This capability has removed the need for officers to return to the office to complete administrative tasks, enabling them to maximise their time on patrol and maintain a stronger visible presence within their areas,
Basith explained. This real-time data capture has significantly improved the quality, accuracy, and timeliness of enforcement records,
leading to considerable efficiency savings
by reducing duplication of effort and streamlining workflows.
Patrol Priorities and ASB Hotspots
Patrol priorities are determined by a targeted deployment strategy focused on Highways and District Centres, housing estates and Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) hotspot locations.
The most notable area of activity remained Highways and District Centres, where patrols increased from 37,336 to 66,714, representing an increase of 78.7%. These locations accounted for approximately 72.9% of all patrol activity during the period and reflect the team's continued focus on busy public spaces, transport hubs, town centres and other areas where visible enforcement has the greatest impact on community confidence and public safety. Targeted ASB patrols increased from 13,232 to 22,296, representing growth of 68.5%. The majority of these patrols were concentrated within Highways and District Centre locations, where reports of nuisance behaviour, rough sleeping, begging, street drinking and other ASB-related issues have the greatest community impact.
Service Requests and ASB Trends
Resident demand increased moderately, with overall service requests rising by 15.0% from 3,809 to 4,382. However, ASB-specific service requests fell by 14.4%, decreasing from 862 to 738 requests. This suggests that the increased proactive enforcement is helping to prevent the escalation of recurring issues. The report highlights that The reduction in ASB-specific reports during the first half of 2026 shows that proactive enforcement activity is helping to prevent escalation of recurring issues.
Measuring Effectiveness and Partnerships
The report highlights that Patrol coverage grew substantially faster than resident demand, which is precisely the outcome expected from a preventative and intelligence-led enforcement service.
Key performance indicators (KPIs) for the ASB Unit include the percentage of new cases responded to within one working day (Target 100%, Achieved 99%) and initial interviews conducted within two working days (Target 100%, Achieved 100%).
The team also conducted 20 joint operations with partner agencies, including joint outreach patrols with the Mayor's homelessness outreach charity
and joint patrols with Outreach staff from Turning Point.
These collaborations aimed at identifying vulnerable individuals, connecting them with support services, and addressing public substance misuse. These efforts are coordinated through multi-agency meetings involving Public Health, Community Safety, Law Enforcement, ASB teams, and Turning Point.
Defining and Measuring ASB
Anti-social behaviour is defined as 'behaviour by a person which causes, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to persons not of the same household as the person' according to the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 and Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011. The ASB Unit categorizes cases into Priority One (high risk, immediate harm), Priority Two (Higher Risk, vulnerable residents), and Priority Two (Lower Risk, requires investigation but no immediate harm). Customer satisfaction surveys also measure whether respondents reported feeling safer following Council intervention,
with 75% reporting feeling safer after council intervention.
The report indicates that the increase in visibility and targeted patrols enabled the team to maintain a strong presence across the borough while responding effectively to emerging issues.
The continued focus on hotspot patrols, targeted ASB operations, and estate-based interventions has helped reduce ASB demand despite increased overall service requests.
For more details on the Community Safety Board's activities, refer to the Public reports pack and the Agenda frontsheet.
