00:00The Metropolitan Police has some of the highest rates per thousand people of personal robbery in England and Wales,
00:08among which phones are a significant problem.
00:11On Thursday, the force revealed it had started sharing data with Apple
00:16to more closely track whether stolen handsets get reconnected to a phone network after they are taken.
00:24The international trade in stolen phones is worth millions of dollars,
00:28with a device stolen in London worth more in countries like China
00:33because it has none of the government restrictions put in place by authorities there.
00:38In the UK, the Met has seen adverts on Snapchat offering children as much as £380 to steal a single
00:47phone,
00:48with a bonus of £100 for stealing 10.
00:52Met chief Sir Mark Rowley has previously said telecoms giants should take action to make handsets
00:59on usable bricks in order to render them less appealing to steal.
01:05The Met has written to the Home Secretary asking for legislation to make phone companies publish data
01:11on stolen devices and whether they are reconnected and to enforce measures to make stolen devices unusable.
01:19Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show only a fraction of devices taken in London
01:26are returned to their owners.
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