UPDATED The Metropolitan Police’s Met Engage platform is blocking residents from responding to messages about rising crime, while Tuesday’s community meeting in Wandsworth shows as ‘sold out’.
The new Met Engage platform has been promoted as a resource-efficient way to maintain community policing in the face of budget cutbacks but fails to recognise authenticated users on mobile devices, blocking them from replying despite being logged in with verified accounts.
When attempting to reply to Superintendent Gani Rajan’s message about Tuesday’s meeting, the platform demands users “login or register to reply” – even for verified accounts already displaying “you are now logged in.” The core reply function simply doesn’t work on mobile devices.
The platform failure comes as official Met statistics show crime in Wandsworth Town ward surged from 150 incidents in December 2024 to 234 in May 2025 – a 56% increase in six months. Anti-social behaviour (68 incidents in August), violence and sexual offences (50), and shoplifting (37) now top the borough’s crime list.
The spike has forced redeployment of Thamesfield’s only neighbourhood officer to Wandsworth Town, as we reported in September, leaving parts of Putney with reduced dedicated policing.
Tuesday’s meeting at Arding & Hobbs Rooms in Clapham Junction (capacity: 120) lists as “sold out” on Eventbrite, with a waitlist operating. But the same system showed May’s Putney High Street meeting – featuring MP Fleur Anderson, council representatives, and police – as “sold out” while leaving visible empty seats, sparking resident backlash about being excluded from unfilled events.
The pattern raises questions about whether “sold out” reflects genuine capacity limits or poor event management.
Superintendent Rajan’s Met Engage message asks residents: “Do you have key concerns in your local area which you would like to see addressed? Do you want to know more about how the Met is cracking down on crime?” But the broken reply system prevents residents from doing exactly that.
Tuesday’s event, part of the Met’s “Phase 2” community engagement strategy under “A New Met for London” reforms, promises senior officers and local teams “ready to listen to your questions and concerns.” Topics include trust-building, crime reduction, and local policing priorities.
We have contacted the Metropolitan Police for comment on Met Engage technical failures, event capacity management, and community engagement and will update this article with any response.
Residents unable to access the event or platform can contact METEventbrite@met.police.uk.
Update, 13 October. The Met have responded and said they have flagged the technical problem with replies on mobile devices to their providers who are investigating. In addition, it added: “If users are having technical issues with the platform, they can contact support staff through the platform.”
In respect to being “sold out”, the Met noted: “The capacity of the venue is at 120 and we are at capacity and operating a wait list.”
