City of London Police tactics preventing phone theft

Proactive action by the City of London Police to prevent phone snatching this year has seen a nearly 30 per cent reduction in the crime.

Figures released today show the number of reported phones snatched in the Square Mile is down in the first four months of 2025, compared with the previous year.

The findings are being released as the force announces Op Swipe, a new operation introduced in the City, demonstrated today by an intensification day of policing action.

Since the start of the year there have been 213 phones reported stolen in the City of London. For the same period between 1 January and 30 April last year, there were 294 phone snatching reports.

Today, officers will be out in phone snatching hot spots to deter, detect, apprehend and prevent phone snatching.

Police visibility will be increased across the square mile, supported by dedicated resources in the control room who will be closely watching using the City’s extensive CCTV network.

The force’s Cycle Team will be seizing illegal e-bikes and will be joined by Metropolitan Police officers on Surron bikes to demonstrate their tactical capabilities. The City of London Police has seized over 500 illegal e-bikes and e-scooters since July 2023.

Deputy Commissioner Paul Betts, City of London Police said:

“Having your phone swiped has a huge impact on people’s lives, the stealing of an expensive device also makes someone a risk of fraudulent activity. It’s a horrible crime and our message is clear, we won’t tolerate it in the City.

“We’ve made it a priority to bring phone snatchers before the courts and we’ve introduced initiatives such as our blue plaque campaign to prevent people from having their phones taken by criminals in the first place.  We’re also marking phones making the device less desirable to thieves and giving us a better chance of getting recovered phones back to victims.

“Early results of Operation Swipe are positive, bucking the trend in the rise of this prevalent crime, but we’re going the extra mile to keep the City safe and feeling safe for residents, businesses and visitors.”

From the over 1,000 stolen phones recovered by the City of London Police over the last two years, fewer than half have been returned because the owner could not be located.

To make stolen phones traceable, the force is offering phone marking that allows devices to be uniquely marked, helping police quickly identify and return stolen phones to victims when recovered. People can get their phone marked in Aldgate Square, Ludgate Hill and outside Liverpool Street Station between 12pm and 2pm today (Wednesday 21 May).

If a phone is found, the markings will make it easier for officers to track ownership and ensure that property is returned promptly. The force is also asking people to set up medical ID contact on their phone. This would allow someone, like a police officer, access to a next of kin details when the phone is locked, ensuring it gets returned to its owner if recovered.

Chair of the City of London Police Authority Board, Tijs Broeke, said:

“Everyone who lives, works and visits the City should be safe and feel safe. The Police Authority Board is fully supportive of the City Police’s relentless efforts to tackle phone snatching both in preventing it from happening in the first place by offering advice to Londoners and by bringing these thieves to justice.

The intensification day shows the commitment to tackling a crime that really matters to people right across the capital. The reduction in this crime type is welcomed and we will continue to monitor and scrutinise the approach by the police. We would also like to see a greater responsibility taken by mobile phone manufacturers and providers to find a way to make phones less valuable to criminals.”

Following on from the successful tagging on streets where real phone snatches have taken place, the force is now putting plaques where phone snatchers have been arrested. For example, a plaque will be placed at the spot London’s most notorious phone snatcher, Sonny Stringer was caught.

City of London Police’s phone snatching work forms a key part of the new three-year policing plan published today to keep people safe and feeling safe. The plan sets out how the force will achieve its new vision of ‘a trusted and inclusive police service, keeping the City of London safe and transforming the national policing response to fraud, economic and cyber crime’. 

Minister for Crime and Policing Dame Diana Johnson said:

"For too long phone theft has been a neglected crime. These results from City of London Police demonstrate that effective neighbourhood policing can make our streets safer.

“Through our Plan for Change we are building on this type of successful policing, supporting police with new powers in our Crime and Policing Bill to recover stolen devices without a warrant, while investing in 13,000 new neighbourhood officers to get more police back on the beat.”

Figures show that around £7,000 a day was defrauded from victims following the theft of their mobile phone. Action Fraud, the reporting service for fraud and cyber crime, says that this type of fraud is becoming more widespread, with criminals most commonly gaining access to banking, cryptocurrency and credit applications installed on mobile phones. Money or funds are then transferred out of victim accounts, or purchases are made using installed applications.

As well as protecting City residents, workers and visitors, the City of London Police is also the National Lead Force for fraud, and is also warning the public to keep their devices secure by:

• Protecting sensitive data and apps with unique and different passcodes or facial recognition.
• Setting up 2-Step Verification on all devices and ensure personal details such as passwords are not kept in unencrypted notes.
• Telling your network provider straight away if your phone is stolen because they can blacklist and deactivate it remotely.
• If you’ve lost money or provided your financial information to someone, notify your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, call Police Scotland on 101.
• Most smartphones and tablets can be remotely locked and tracked.

Notes to editors

For iPhone

Create your Medical ID

Set up a Medical ID in the Health app.

1. Go to the Health app  on your iPhone.
2. Tap your picture at the top right, then tap Medical ID.
3. Tap Get Started or Edit, then enter your information.
4. Below Emergency Contacts, tap Add Emergency Contact, then add your contacts.

After an emergency call ends, your iPhone alerts your emergency contacts with a text message, unless you choose to cancel. Your iPhone sends your current location (if available) and—for a period of time after you enter SOS mode—your emergency contacts receive updates when your location changes.

1. Tap Done.

 

 To find your medical ID details on a lock screen you need to go through the process as if you’re switching your phone off so the sliders appear, you can do this by:

• iPhone with Face ID: Simultaneously press and hold the side button and either volume button until the sliders appear.
• iPhone with the Home button: Press and hold the side button.

For Android:

 

You can add personal emergency info to your phone's lock screen, like your blood type, allergies and medications.

• On your phone, open the Safety app .
• Sign in to your Google Account.
• Tap Your info.
• Add your emergency info. For medical information: Tap Medical information.

 

To find your medical ID details on a lock screen you need to go through the process as if you’re switching your phone off