School age robbery

Officers across London, both in uniform and plain clothes, are working across areas where we know school age robbery is taking place. We are targeting hotspots based on intelligence, where crime is likely to happen.

School age robbery is related to young people being targeted for their mobile phones or other expensive possessions such as in-ear headphones. Young people are mainly targeted by other young people. This is either on the way to school or on the way home, including on public transport.

Our campaign

To get young Londoners to help us and protect themselves as much as possible, we have launched a school age robbery campaign, which runs along operational activity. It reminds young people to protect their valuables and call 999 immediately if they become a victim of robbery.

It is essential victims do this at the first opportunity, rather than waiting until they get home. It allows police officers to attend the location of the robbery as quickly as possible and gather potential, valuable evidence.

We know many young people may think that calling 999 for a robbery might not be the right thing to do and it may be best to wait until they speak to their parents. But we are encouraging them to ask for help and call 999 straight away.

Teaching young people to stay safe

Our campaign shows young people how they can avoid being robbed. The key things a young person can do are:

• be aware of their surroundings when out and about
• stay alert when walking along the road for criminals who might use bikes, mopeds or e-scooters to snatch phones and valuables
• try not to walk along with their phone or valuables on show
• know that headphones can distract them
• plan their route and use transport that others are using, and avoid shortcuts in isolated places

Get involved

For this campaign, our advertising targets those who live and work in the areas of greatest concern. The campaign includes:

• outdoor advertising and posters
• targeted social media and digital advertising
• placements in venues such as fast food outlets
• mobile vans – digital screens and advertising

We have developed a range of campaign materials such as posters and leaflets, which can be used to amplify the campaign. We also have a toolkit officers use in schools. This is to raise awareness of school age robbery and provide crime prevention advice directly to children, their school, and their families.

In addition to crime prevention advice, the campaign partners with Fearless, which is the youth brand of Crimestoppers. It enables young people to give information about crime 100% anonymously. 

Contact us

If you want to find out more, please email our Campaigns team with ‘School age robbery campaign’ in the message title.