Met warns tech firms to act now on phone theft

Speaking at the Met’s first International Mobile Phone Crime Conference, Sir Mark Rowley said mobile phone theft has evolved into a global organised crime business and made clear that policing alone cannot dismantle it while stolen devices continue to hold significant resale value overseas.

The challenge to industry follows a year of targeted enforcement by the Met, which delivered a 12 per cent reduction in mobile phone theft across London in 2025 – around 10,000 fewer victims in a single year.

Officers have intensified action at every stage of the criminal chain – from street‑level thieves to handlers and the organised crime networks exporting stolen phones abroad.

The conference follows a series of calls to action made to the mobile phone industry from the Commissioner and Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, for more to be done to deliver bold and innovative solutions that help to ‘design out’ robberies and thefts involving mobile phones.

Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said:

“We have over two years of extended and constructive conversations with parts of the technology industry, and we are ready to continue working with them. But now is the time to move from discussion to delivery. Every delay means more people enduring the stress, disruption and fear of having their phone stolen.

“We have stepped up enforcement across London and are delivering real reductions in crime. But while stolen phones remain valuable, this market will continue. Only manufacturers and operating system providers can break this model at source.

“If by June industry has not come forward in a genuinely serious, solutions‑focused way – with concrete commitments that make stolen phones unusable anywhere in the world – the Met will formally ask the Government to legislate."

As part of its most recent four‑week phone theft crackdown, Met officers made 248 arrests, targeting offenders from prolific pickpockets and phone snatchers through to handlers and those linked to international export networks.

What looks like a street‑level snatch is in fact the entry point to a transnational criminal business worth hundreds of millions of pounds. Phones stolen on London’s streets can be exported, reactivated and resold overseas within days – sometimes for more than they cost new here.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, added:

“Mobile phone crime is a global menace - driving crime, violence, and the fear of crime in London and around the world. And for victims, the personal impact can be traumatic.

“My record funding is supporting the UK’s largest ever crackdown on mobile phone crime - with co-ordinated operations targeting street snatchers as well as the Organised Criminal Gang leaders smuggling stolen phones out of the country. Thanks to more visible neighbourhood policing in our communities and plain-clothed specialist operations in hotspot areas like the West End, there were 10,000 fewer phone thefts in London in the last year. A new central London Command Cell, drones and Sur-Ron E-bikes are enabling us to continue leading the way internationally to tackle mobile phone thieves.

“But we know mobile phone crime cannot be solved by policing alone - that’s why I continue to lead calls for greater collaboration between leading tech companies and international law enforcement agencies. If we don’t see results by June, the Commissioner will have my full support in calling for new legislation. We need a system‑wide prevention approach, focused on removing the economic value of stolen devices through technology, data‑sharing and industry action to build a safer London and world for everyone.”

The International Mobile Phone Crime Conference is the first time the Met has brought together domestic and international law enforcement, government and industry partners at this scale to tackle mobile phone theft as a global organised crime threat. The conference took place in Bloomsbury in London on Tuesday, 10 and Wednesday, 11 March.

Notes to media

A full copy of the Commissioner’s speech is attached.

Mobile phone theft and robbery offences in London have fallen from 81,365 in 2024 to 71,391 last year – a drop of 12.3 per cent.

Further information on the Met’s recent operational activity: Met cuts phone theft by 10,000 offences following year-long crackdown | Metropolitan Police.

Video and images are available here.

00:00 – 02:06 GVs of control room and drone footage. Drones are used to support police responses and capture evidence.

02:07 – 2:58 GVs of various phone snatching incidents around London.

02:59 – 4:06 GVs of officers on Sur-Ron e-bikes. These bikes are effective in catching suspects on e-bikes and e-scooters.

04:07 – 04:57 GVs of police interceptors pursuing suspects on bikes. Officers arrest suspect.

04:58 – 06:00 GVs of officers executing warrant at London address on Thursday, 12 February. Suspect arrested for conspiracy to handle stolen goods.

Photo caption: Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, with Detective Superintendent Lucy O'Connor, Commander Andrew Featherstone and Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley from the Metropolitan Police Service.