Mobile phone theft crackdown announced by Mayor
The Mayor of London has announced a crackdown on mobile phone theft in the capital, with an intention to invest an additional £4.5 million in this year’s budget. This includes a proposal to set up a new mobile phone Command Cell to coordinate intelligence and respond to phone theft and robbery in the West End.
The latest police data, according to City Hall, shows that in key hotspots in London, robberies are down by 46% and thefts have fallen by over a quarter. Funding from the mayor has doubled the number of police officers in the West End, which it says has led to the reduction.
According to the Metropolitan Police, mobile phone theft in London is down from 81,365 in 2024 to 71,391 in 2025, representing a 12.3% drop. The mayor “wants to go further in eliminating the scourge of mobile phone thefts as part of ongoing work from City Hall and the Metropolitan Police to make London’s streets safer,” said a press release from City Hall.
“The Mayor recognises the personal impact of high-volume crime such as mobile phone theft and is proposing additional funding for the Metropolitan Police in his final draft Budget to make the capital a no-go-area for thieves and robbers,” it added.
The proposed new mobile phone Command Cell would be located in the West End and coordinate activity and provide real-time response to incidents help crack down on all types of crime, including phone theft. The new funding would allow the Met to “push ahead with a package of measures to further tackle phone theft.” This includes more “enforcement blitzes,” pro-active targeting of known offenders, as well as the use of drones and new specialist police trained to use e-bikes to pursue suspects in the West End.
The Violence Reduction Unit will also receive new funding for its Reducing Robbery programme to protect young people from being victims around school and in key hot-spots. The new funding will also help Trading Standards and the Met to form a Stolen Phone Retail Taskforce to crack down on shops that buy and sell stolen phones and support more enforcement activity.
Stay tuned to EyeOnLondon for the latest news and expert opinions.
Follow us on:
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest videos and updates!
We value your thoughts! Share your feedback and help us make EyeOnLondon even better!
