Newham Borough Commander Rob Jones has made this pledge: As part of the Commissioner’s vision of Total Policing - and total care for victims of crime, the Metropolitan Police Service will now, regardless of the offence, offer all victims a home visit by a police officer.

He explained: “In the new scheme Operation Promote, victims of offences such as criminal damage, theft of pedal cycles and harassment will have the choice of either reporting the incident over the phone, attending a police station, or making an appointment with an officer to see them at a convenient time and place.

“This is about improving how we treat and support victims of crime by tailoring our services to better meet their needs. We know that we need to improve how we treat victims - especially of perceived lower level crimes - so that more people are more satisfied in our services.

“We can’t promise we’ll solve more cases by visiting victims but we’ll certainly be able to give a better service. We also know that some people will be happy with a phone call but others will appreciate a more personal interaction. We will now also be visiting all cases of theft from motor vehicles. A car is probably the second most valuable material item to many people after their homes and it being damaged or broken into can be very distressing.

“We are also doing this to help catch more criminals! By quickly attending vehicle crimes there’s a better chance of capturing potential forensic evidence.”