The crime alert service Online Watch Link (OWL) will end on 31 October, due the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) no longer be funding it. 

The Metropolitan Police are not taking over the funding, despite having over 1,700 officers trained to use the platform.

In a message sent out to members, OWL expressed that “without funding to maintain and operate” the service they have had no choice but to “shut it down”.

According to its website, OWL shares information with the police and local authorities across London to maximise the potential of schemes such as Neighbourhood Watch, Rural Watch and Business Watch.

Police and councils send out alerts, via OWL, about crimes and local issues happening in real time. It aim was to help prevent burglaries, find missing people, make people feel safer, and catch suspects. 

Each year, around 14,000 alerts and updates are published, generating six million emails and 12 million push notifications.

In the farewell email, OWL said that it is the “only communications platform that has kept everyone safe without any data breaches or privacy issues.”

OWL has operated across 18 London boroughs, including Tower Hamlets and Hackney, over the last 10 years. 

In Tower Hamlets, there are over 8,000 registered members. In Hackney however, there are only a few hundred.

OWL told EastLondonLines that according to MOPAC’s Trust & Confidence survey of December 2023, 75 per cent of boroughs using OWL had above-average trust compared with the rest of London.

In 11 of the 18 boroughs a mobile app is available, funded by borough councils, which provides location alerts for residents. 

EastLondonLines were told that: “There is no alternative to this app for the public to use.”

The only figures available for OWL’s work are in the borough of Hillingdon, as that was the only borough that kept track of incidents where OWL was used to appeal to members for help and directly resulted in arrests or prosecutions.

A report by OWL shows that crime rates in Hillingdon for vehicle theft, burglary, robbery and “all crimes” were lower in 2023 compared to 2017, before OWL was introduced. 

In the borough, over the five-year period, OWL says its members helped resolve £8.3m of crime and prevented £10m of further crime from happening as a low-end estimate.

OWL have received around 400 emails from the public expressing sadness, gratitude, and anger since the announcement. 

Many of the comments, seen by EastLondonLines, included disappointment in its closure and commended the platform on being a helpful form of communication to the public. 

EastLondonLines reached out to MOPAC for a comment on their decision to stop funding OWL, but have not received a response.