Met Police recover 1000 stolen mobile phones in one week

With phone snatching on the rise, we look into the latest statistics revealed by the Met Police.

Transcript

00:00Police! Stay where you are! Stay where you are, police!

00:04Adam, is your phone missing?

00:06Stay there, police.

00:09At this point, you're under arrest for theft.

00:11The reason I'm arresting you is we just found a stolen phone on you...

00:15A crackdown on the widespread crime of mobile phone snatching

00:20across London has led to 230 arrests

00:23by the Metropolitan Police in just one week.

00:27In its fight against the growing problem of mobile phone theft,

00:31the force revealed it had also seized over 1,000 stolen phones.

00:36Plainclothes officers have been stationed in the key hotspot locations

00:41such as the West End and Westminster,

00:43with the police also utilising advanced tracking technology

00:47to recover phones and apprehend suspects.

00:50The Met emphasised that its efforts have been intensified

00:54to tackle the £50 million-a-year mobile phone theft trade in the capital,

00:59targeting those involved in theft-handling stolen goods

01:03and the illegal supply chain.

01:05Now, the police have released footage of phone snatching attacks in the capital

01:09and arrests made in Soho and around the city.

01:17Mate, just stay there and show me your hands for a second.

01:20You're going to be detained on the second one of the police.

01:22That's right. Put your hand behind your back right now.

01:28This has come after the Met Police and tech companies

01:31pledged to work closer together to tackle smartphone theft.

01:36You are the only one on this channel at the moment.

01:39Currently, we do not have a tactical resolution until more TPAC units come down, over.

01:46...

01:52...

01:54Police!

01:55Police!

01:56Police!

02:15...

02:20During a recent summit, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper urged tech companies

02:25including Apple, Samsung and Google to join forces with the police

02:30to improve anti-theft measures and make smartphones effectively worthless to criminals.

02:37The Met's commander, Owen Richards, said that they are seeing theft on an industrial scale

02:42by criminals making up millions by easily selling on the devices.

02:47He added that intensifying efforts are catching up more perpetrators

02:51and protecting people from having their phones stolen in the capital.