The streets of London have been plagued for years by telephone that sees thieves, but a metropolitan police operation to combat the epidemic, now sees results.
By spelling the corners on electric scooters and bicycles, gangs of telephones that grab criminals have stolen thousands of devices in recent years as part of a £ 50 million crimewave a year.
Since October 2020, cases of telephone theft in the capital have steadily increased. Between October 2023 and September 2024, a shocking 66,528 phones were stolen in London, according to statistics produced by the with Police.
But in recent months 'various operations' have been deployed by the police with regard to the monitoring of CCTV images, increasing the consciousness of the officers and the 'use of' traffic units and span teams have caused a decrease in telephone theft.
A decrease of 27% was registered in November 2024, while in a promising statistics a decrease of 43% was reached the following month.
“There are different operations from different proactive teams that have been specifically to a two -wheeled converted crime,” has posted a video by the Police on X announced.
'And also just officers on the ground who are more aware of the event and go on the radio. CCTV operators scream before they commit offenses, so that we can get the necessary units with the skills.
'If a phone ping at a certain location of the map, we can plot the route they take and where they end up, and hopefully find out where those phones go.
Telephone theft in London has become such a serious problem that it is called an 'epidemic'
Between October 2023 and September 2024, a shocking 66,528 phones were stolen in London, according to statistics produced by the with Police
Various new operations that were introduced by Police managed to bring about a decrease in telephone thefts in November and December 2024
Westminster, the most affected town of London, saw 18,863 incidents in 2024 to December.
The with Police, however, it says that 'real, really good' CCTV coverage in the Posh London Borough will be in stopping bangs of thieves, joins devices,
“There are CCTV cameras, one of the things in this town (Westminster), they are actually very, really good quality and we have quite a bit of reporting,” the video continued on 7 February.
'We use the use of traffic units and spans (Surge and Rapid Response Team) teams and they have high driving skills and the possibility – if there is a high risk – to beat them from the bikes.
'Sometimes they wear (the thieves) large weapons, so it's about immediate control over the poor, immediate control over the hands and ensuring that you have enough units around you to support.
“Between the actual perpetrator who does a Snatch is followed by CCTV operators and national police air support, they are followed all the time during their travels until police can catch up and hold and arrest.”
Due to the use of traffic units and overvoltage teams, the Force was able to detect thieves immediately after their violations
The power also follows CCTV images and use the National Police Air to follow and catch criminals
The telephone work data uses with Police to collect intelligence and to hunt the smartphone snatchers teasing the streets of London
The Force also uses officers with a normal dressed and telephone tracking data to collect intelligence and to hunt the smartphone snatchers that tease the streets of the capital.
During a week -long Blitz focused on tackling the epidemic, more than 1,000 stolen telephones were seized and 230 people were arrested.
In one case, officers were able to bring down a gang of thieves who were caught handling more than 5,000 stolen telephones for a period of 18 months in a crime spread of a total of £ 5.1 million.
Four men – Zakaria Senadjki, 31, Ahmed Abdelhakim Belhanafi, 25, Nazih Cheraitia, 34, and Riyadh Mamouni, 25, were imprisoned for a total of 18 years in the criminal gang.
Despite such successes, Kaya Comer-Schwartz, the deputy mayor of London for the police and crime, confirmed that there is 'more to do'.
While the criminal requirement to high -quality mobile phones continues to grow worldwide, the mayor and I are clear that companies should go further and faster to make it more difficult for stolen phones to be sold, reused and reused illegally, “said.
Despite the successes of the police in tackling telephone theft in recent months, there is still 'more to do'
Zakaria Senadjki, 31 (left) and Zakaria Senadjki, 31 (right) are both imprisoned for their share in the criminal group
Ahmed Abdelhakim Belhanafi, 25, (right) and Nazih Cheraitia, 34, (left) were both imprisoned last year for their share in a telephone criminal group
'We will continue to work with leading mobile telephone companies, the Minister of the Interior and have met leaders to find innovative solutions to put an end to the scourge of mobile telephone crime.
'The success in tackling telephone thefts comes after special measures last month has gone, after important improvements on many service areas to London.
'These include responding faster to emergency situations and strengthening the neighborhood police to respond better to the concerns of communities, including tackling theft and robberies.
“The with everyone who has lost or has stolen a telephone to use the national mobile phone register, so that restored handsets can be restored, via the National Mobile Property Register.”
