Zain Ali Khan:
Metropolitan Police Service has stepped up its efforts to catch phone snatchers, especially in busy areas like the West End. Police are now using drones alongside other tech tools like live facial recognition and special e-bikes to spot, track and help arrest suspects involved in mobile phone theft. This is part of a year-long crackdown, described as the largest of its kind, which has seen hundreds of arrests and thousands fewer phone theft offences. A phone is stolen in the capital every seven to eight minutes – and the force warns that children as young as 14 are being targeted over social media and paid up to £100 to steal phones for organised crime gangs. New figures show that between 2017 and 27 February 2024, out of a total of 587,498 phones stolen in London, excluding the city, just 13,998 were recovered.
But the number of recorded mobile phone thefts in London fell to 71,391 last year, compared to 81,365 in 2024 – a drop of 12% – Met figures show.
Scotland Yard said 32 people had been arrested and 24 charged, in connection with one gang, and more than 1,000 phones and 200 laptops had been recovered. One suspect was arrested in connection with 20 offences of so-called “table surfing” over two months, where criminals distract customers to swipe their phone from their tabletop in bars or cafes. The force said 39 stolen phones had been recovered following a search of the suspect’s house.
