The Metropolitan Police is urging the Home Secretary to compel phone manufacturers to make stolen devices harder to reuse, as Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley continues his campaign to turn stolen handsets into "unusable bricks."
Ultimatum to Tech Firms
In March, Sir Mark issued an ultimatum to telecoms giants, demanding they take steps to make phones less attractive to thieves by preventing their reactivation. On Thursday, the Met revealed it has begun sharing data with Apple to better track whether stolen devices are reconnected to networks after theft.
London has some of the highest rates of personal robbery and theft from the person in England and Wales, with phones accounting for a "significant" portion of these crimes.
International Trade in Stolen Phones
The global trade in stolen phones is worth millions of dollars. A device stolen in London can be worth more in countries like China, where government-imposed restrictions are less stringent. In the UK, the Met has observed advertisements on Snapchat offering children up to £380 for stealing a single iPhone, with a £100 bonus for stealing ten.
Sir Mark Rowley stated: "I gave an ultimatum to tech firms – take urgent steps to prevent stolen phones from being resold and reused, or we will call on Government to step in and legislate. For the first time, we are routinely sharing intelligence on stolen devices, building a joint picture of how these phones move and whether they reappear in circulation. That partnership is already making a difference. If stolen phones cannot be reactivated, their value collapses, and so does the incentive to steal them. We are driving up the risk for offenders while cutting off the reward."
Legislative Demands
The Met has written to the Home Secretary requesting legislation that would require phone companies to publish data on stolen devices and their reconnection status, and to enforce measures rendering stolen phones unusable.
Between June 2025 and May 2026, thefts and robberies involving phones fell by 14,000, an 18% reduction from the previous year. In the first five months of 2026, there were 6,700 fewer such incidents, a 20.6% decline. In Westminster, where 69% to 72% of weekly thefts and robberies involve phones, incidents have dropped by 45.8% so far this calendar year.
Anti-Theft Measures Proposed
At a March conference on phone theft, the Met called for anti-theft protection to be enabled by default, stolen phones to be rendered unusable, and improved access to IMEI data to facilitate returning devices to owners.
Freedom of Information data reveals that only a fraction of stolen phones in London are recovered. Between 2017 and February 27, 2024, 587,498 phones were stolen in London (excluding the City), with only 13,998 recovered, leaving 573,500 unrecovered.
The Met also solves a smaller proportion of these crimes compared to other forces in England and Wales. In the year to December 2025, 6.9% of personal robbery cases resulted in a suspect being identified and dealt with, while the rate for theft from the person was just 0.9%.
