Sir Sadiq Khan has been accused of overseeing a “woefully inadequate” response to London’s soaring rate of phone thefts, after dedicating only two sentences to the problem in his upcoming policing strategy for the capital.
City Hall Conservatives said the mayor “has chosen to virtually ignore the problem”, while Sir Sadiq’s team insists he is “supporting the Met with record funding to redouble efforts to tackle the scourge of phone thefts”.
It comes after Met Police data revealed that London saw 70,137 phone thefts in 2024, equivalent to 192 a day.
Tories on the London Assembly said the figures further demonstrate why the mayor needs to make the offence a critical priority in his Police and Crime Plan for 2025-2029, which he intends to publish in its final form later this month.
The plan sets out Sir Sadiq’s “high-level priorities for policing, crime and community safety in London” over the next four years, and effectively serves as a blueprint for the Met to follow in cooperation with City Hall and other public bodies.
But the Conservatives say he has failed to include enough detail or commitments in the draft version of the document to successfully tackle the problem.
Currently, the plan only includes the following brief passage on phone theft: “Mobile phones are highly valuable, easily portable devices and remain a primary target for robbers.
“Alongside targeted police work to tackle the perpetrators of these robberies, the mayor and MPS [Met Police Service] commissioner will work with the Home Office to continue and expand work with mobile phone companies and cloud providers to do more to ‘design-out’ the theft and robbery of their products – and, if necessary, call for legislative change.”
The Met’s data on phone thefts in 2024 - recently released in response to a Freedom of Information request from comparethemarket.com, stated that the 70,137 phone thefts in 2024 was up from 52,428 in 2023 and 39,202 in 2022.
In February, Neil Garratt, the Assembly’s Tory group leader, published a report claiming that theft in London has grown to “epidemic” proportions. He urged Sir Sadiq to allocate £7m for the creation of a dedicated Theft Reduction Unit, with specifically recruited officers able to “concentrate their resources solely on organised crime groups”.
Confronted by Mr Garratt at a City Hall meeting shortly before Christmas on the lack of detail in his draft Police and Crime Plan on phone thefts - and the absence of any mention of bicycle thefts - Sir Sadiq said: “The member [Mr Garratt] has been a member for a few years now. I’m surprised he doesn’t realise the Police and Crime Plan is out for consultation.”
The mayor’s remarks appeared to suggest that the final version could include further detail on tackling those offences. The plan was open for Londoners to respond to between December 18 and February 12. Any changes to the plan as a result of that feedback are currently being worked through.
In comments this week, Mr Garratt said: “Our findings show that with real political support and leadership, the Metropolitan Police could effectively target these theft hotspots, disrupt the criminal gangs behind them, and keep Londoners safe. Instead, the mayor has chosen to virtually ignore the problem, leaving Londoners vulnerable and the police without the mandate they need to tackle this epidemic.
“Every minute spent not acting is a minute wasted, and more phones stolen. The mayor must act now to implement the recommendations of our report, and put a stop to this senseless crime wave.”
Responding, a spokesman for Sir Sadiq said: “The theft of a mobile phone is a hugely distressing experience for victims and we are seeing numbers increase not just across the country but all around the world.
“The mayor is supporting the Met with record funding to redouble efforts to tackle the scourge of phone thefts in London and revitalise local neighbourhood policing under the New Met for London Plan, but the police can’t defeat mobile phone theft on their own.
“That’s why, at the recent Home Office roundtable the mayor pushed for the mobile phone industry to go further to prevent stolen phones being used, sold and repurposed, using all the technology at their disposal to help us build a safer London for everyone.”
In its cross-party response to the draft Police and Crime Plan 2025-29, the Assembly’s police and crime committee has said: “The new Plan must deliver the benefits that the previous Plan did not. Areas that have not seen enough progress include the total volume of recorded crime increasing year-on-year since 2021-22, including increases in gun crime, robbery and theft.
“Additionally, since 2021-22, overall confidence in the Met has decreased and victim satisfaction levels have fallen. To deliver improvements in these areas, a bolder and more innovative approach is needed.”
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