LONDON - London police revealed that officers are investigating nearly 300 incidents of vandalism against cameras used in the city's Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), ahead of its contentious expansion later this month.
The Metropolitan Police launched an operation in April after it received reports from local government agency Transport for London (TfL) of criminal damage and theft.
At the end of June the number of incidents recorded had grown to around 200, and by the start of this month the force had logged 288 "crimes relating to ULEZ cameras," the Met said.
They include approximately 185 reports of cables being damaged, 164 cameras being stolen and 38 reports of cameras being obscured, it added.
"These are clearly unacceptable acts of criminality and we have a team of officers investigating and identifying those responsible," Commander Owain Richards said in a statement.
Richards added the force was "providing a proportionate policing response" and that officers were liaising with TfL to "identify new ways to prevent further cameras from being damaged or stolen".
Alongside the statement, the Met released an image of a man it wants to trace in connection with four offences in northwest London on June 17.