The private force tackling crime because police don’t want to: Founder of security firm staffed by ex-Flying Squad cops says communities across their beat ‘finally feel safe’ as they hunt burglars and shoplifters when Met refuse to investigate [Video]

08:49 EDT 07 May 2024, updated 08:54 EDT 07 May 2024

A former Scotland Yard detective who leads ‘Britain’s first private police force’ says locals in the communities it patrols ‘finally feel safe’ thanks to his staff investigating and prosecuting cases of burglary and shoplifting ditched by the Met.

TM Eye consists of a crack team of former detectives with experience investigating major crimes including murder, terrorism and armed robbery. They are paid by households and businesses to patrol local areas and investigate crimes.

The company has now successfully brought to justice ‘one-man crime wave’ David Hanson, 44, who is the first burglar to be jailed following a private prosecution. 

Today, founder David McKelvey insisted the case ‘wasn’t complex’ but an example of ‘community policing’ of the type British police forces used to be famed for. 

He told MailOnline: ‘We have teams of bobbies and detectives on patrol constantly so they know all the prolific offenders. It was just a …