OWL crime alerts from police

4.5
70 reviews
10K+
Downloads
Content rating
Everyone
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About this app

Stay ahead of crime in your neighbourhood with OWL. Used by hundreds of police and council officers in London to send exclusive crime alerts, advice and updates directly to your phone or tablet. Download OWL now and start receiving these exclusive local alerts for FREE - no registration or login required.

Participating London boroughs include: Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Enfield, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames and Wandsworth.

(Additional boroughs are supported via email alerts only if you register at https://www.owl.co.uk for free. These boroughs include Barking & Dagenham, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.)

This app alerts you to incidents near to where you live or at your current location. Choose the postcode zones you're interested in and receive notifications the moment the police or council send a new alert to that area.

If you get too many notifications you can switch them off and just read the latest alerts within the app, or if you don't get enough you can switch on notifications for all alerts in your borough.

OWL is supported by the Metropolitan Police Service and the Borough Councils previously mentioned. For 18 years, OWL has helped protect residents and businesses from crimes and scams, and now our app expands the accessibility of official police alerts with location-aware notifications.


Other features of the OWL app:
- Super-easy to use. No registration and no login necessary.
- Translate an alert into any language (if your main language isn't English).
- Discover who your local police officers are, where your nearest police station is, and what the priorities are for your area.
- Report a crime online or get in touch with the police in other ways.
- Share alerts on social media.
- Reply to senders of alerts.
- Directory of useful services for reporting quality of life issues, help for victims of crime and domestic abuse.
- Join your local Neighbourhood Watch scheme.


IMPORTANT: After installing and opening the app, please allow it to ALWAYS use your location and to send you push notifications. Your location is used anonymously so you can receive local alerts. We do not collect any personal information and OWL, the police and councils do not store or have access to your location.
Updated on
Mar 25, 2024

Data safety

Safety starts with understanding how developers collect and share your data. Data privacy and security practices may vary based on your use, region, and age. The developer provided this information and may update it over time.
No data shared with third parties
Learn more about how developers declare sharing
This app may collect these data types
Location and App activity
Data is encrypted in transit
Data can’t be deleted

Ratings and reviews

4.5
70 reviews
Martin Skates
July 7, 2021
This app would be better if any new posts had a proper notification in the notification bar. At present I have to go into the app to see anything - if I don't, say for a few days - I miss out until I open it again. Phone runs Android 11 and notifications in OS app settings/permission are enabled. Other than that app is good for giving local information and you can customise both areas and topics of concern.
12 people found this review helpful
Direct Path Solutions Ltd
July 7, 2021
Hi Martin. The app does indeed provide notifications if a new alert is posted. However, it's up to each individual police officer to decide if their alert is urgent enough to send it as a push notification. For example, a vehicle theft would warrant sending a notification but an invitation to a survey probably wouldn't. We'll do some more training.
Ian Pinto
July 12, 2021
A very simple to use, intuitive and informative app... Great job. If the police decide to send alerts, you can now be alerted directly from the app instantly. Everything you need to know about your local participating police force is available from contacts to priorities, tips, advice, scams circulating, etc. Really hope they keep the content coming.
21 people found this review helpful
Wayne Thomas
July 1, 2021
Installed at the weekend and it's been really easy to log onto and it's really informative. Plus it gives you valuable links to be able to report incidents directly. Throughly recommend everyone download the app for your area.
22 people found this review helpful

What's new

○ When viewing alerts, the next/prev buttons are organised more logically.
○ Notification icon will appear on main screen if there's a general notice.
○ Updated the 'About OWL' section
○ Minor tweaks and fixes