Met cuts smart phone theft in capital by 10,000 offences

The focused activity builds on a year-long sustained crackdown on mobile phone theft representing the most extensive series of operations of its kind ever undertaken by the Met. As a result, mobile phone theft offences in London have fallen from 81,365 in 2024 to 71,391 last year: a drop of circa 12.3%.

Metropolitan Police Service Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: “We are relentlessly cracking down on phone thieves and dismantling organised criminal networks at every level: from the pickpockets and phone snatchers operating on our streets to the handlers who profit from their crimes right through to the international networks exporting stolen phones overseas.”

Rowley continued: “Over the past year, we’ve made hundreds of arrests and recovered tens of thousands of stolen devices. That work has meant 10,000 fewer people facing the stress, cost and disruption that comes with having their phone stolen. It’s this work that’s making London an even safer city.”

According to Rowley: “Policing alone cannot solve this problem. Manufacturers and tech companies must do more to stop criminals being able to reset, reuse or resell stolen phones. We also need the courts to play their part by preventing repeat offenders being bailed only to go out and offend again, undermining the hard work officers are doing to keep communities safe.”

Focused four weeks

The Met carried out four weeks’ worth of focused activity to tackle mobile phone theft across London between 19 January and 16 February. This is in addition to targeted precise activity over the past year.

In the West End, officers used pre-emptive tactics to identify suspects as they entered known ‘hotspot’ locations to prevent offences. This involved close co-ordination between police ‘interceptors’, marked Sur-Ron e-bikes, the drone team and neighbourhood officers to target offenders.

32 people were arrested during an operation targeting an organised criminal gang responsible for large-scale phone theft across London. The investigation identified children as young as 14 being paid up to hundreds of pounds to steal phones, with incentives advertised on social media platforms.

During this operation, officers recovered more than 1,000 mobile phones, 200 laptops and other high-value electronics destined to be exported overseas by the organised criminal gang. So far, 20 people have been charged (with further charges to follow).

On 9 February, an off-duty officer arrested a prolific phone thief in the West End. Over the past couple of months, officers linked the male to nearly 20 ‘table surfing’ offences. At the time of his arrest, the suspect was in possession of two stolen phones. Both devices were returned to their owners the same day. Officers found a further 39 stolen phones after searching the man’s home. 25 of those devices have been reunited with their owners and efforts are ongoing to return the rest.

Pickpockets near Westminster

On 28 January, officers spotted two pickpockets operating near Westminster London Underground Station. Officers followed the men, aged 43 and 32, to Waterloo Station, where both were detained. One of the suspects has an extensive history of mobile phone theft and was previously arrested after 300 mobile devices were recovered from a property linked to him.

Commander Andrew Featherstone, the Met’s lead for tackling phone theft, said: “We understand phone theft is a major concern for Londoners and that’s why our officers are relentlessly focused on tackling it head-on. Over the last four weeks, neighbourhood officers and specialist units have deployed cutting-edge technology to identify and arrest suspects quickly. These tactics are delivering results. In ‘hotspot’ areas such as the West End, theft is already down by 30% since April last year.”

Featherstone concluded: “Londoners deserve to feel safe. We will keep fighting back against the thieves and organised gangs fuelling this type of crime.”