Met Police crack down on phone thefts

Met cuts phone theft by 10,000 offences following year-long crackdown

The Metropolitan Police Service has cut mobile phone theft offences in London by 10,000 in the past year following its largest ever crackdown on phone thieves.

Over the last four weeks alone, officers made 248 arrests related to phone theft and seized about 770 stolen phones as part of intensified activity across London to identify and arrest suspects. A further 122 people were arrested for other offences as part of the wider operation.

Local officers worked alongside specialist proactive teams, deploying cutting-edge technology, such as drones, Sur‑Ron e‑bikes and live facial recognition, to catch offenders and significantly disrupt the stolen mobile phone market.

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 about 12.3 per cent.