Overview
- Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley told manufacturers, OS providers and networks to present concrete anti‑theft commitments by June or the Met will ask the Government to legislate.
- Speaking at the International Mobile Phone Crime Conference in Bloomsbury on 10–11 March, the Met cast phone theft as a transnational organised crime business sustained by rapid overseas resale.
- After a year of intensified enforcement, recorded mobile phone thefts in London fell 12.3% in 2025 to 71,391, which the Met says equates to roughly 10,000 fewer victims.
- A recent four‑week operation resulted in 248 arrests and recovery of hundreds of handsets, with drones, Sur‑Ron e‑bikes and a new central London Command Cell used to target thieves, handlers and export links.
- The Met wants anti‑theft protections switched on by default, a capability to render stolen devices unusable worldwide, stronger access to IMEI data, tougher reset authentication with time delays, and parts that are cryptographically tied to each device.