The Met has taken to drones and specialist teams to tackle London’s pressing issue of phone theft.
Living in London, you’re constantly warned to guard your phone, watch out for pickpockets and avoid using it while walking along the street. But what are the Met Police doing to tackle the capital’s phone theft epidemic?
In the past year, the Met Police have engaged in their largest crackdown on phone thieves. Local officers have worked alongside specialist teams, using various technology elements to catch offenders and reduce the number of phone theft across London. As a result of this extensive series of operations, mobile phone theft has fallen from 81,365 in 2024, to 71,391 in 2025, this marks a 12.3% decrease.
Met Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley notes that the Met Police are working hard to make London an even safer city. ‘Over the past year we’ve made hundreds of arrests and recovered tens of thousands of stolen devices’ he said.
But going forward he acknowledges that phone theft is not an issue that can be solved by the Met Police alone. ‘Manufacturers and tech companies must do more to stop criminals being able to reset, reuse or resell stolen phones’ he explains. Further expressing his concern for the bail of repeat offenders. ‘Courts need to play their part by preventing repeat offenders being bailed out to only go and offend again’.
From the 19th January 2026 to the 16th February 2026 , the Met Police have undertaken four weeks of focused activity. During this extensive operation officers made 248 arrests, and seized around 770 stolen phones.
Let’s take a look at how the police have been working to tackle phone crime across London.
The use of drones has played a crucial part in the crackdown, the drones are immediately deployed when needed and provide live footage for the police, supporting police response time and evidence.
In addition, the use of Sur-Ron e-bikes have extensively benefitted the operation. These electric motorcycles provide speed and agility for officers to catch thieves that are using e-bikes and e-scooters for their crimes.
Commander Andrew Featherstrong, the Met’s lead for tackling phone theft, notes the success of the police’s current tactics. ‘We understand phone theft is a major concern for Londoners’ he explained, ‘and our tactics are delivering results’.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has also announced the investment of an additional £4.5 million for the crackdown on mobile phone theft. Thanks to the current funding from City Hall, the operation has already been a success for the Met Police, the funding has allowed investment into state of the art technology. ‘New drones are supporting officers to capture evidence’ he explained ‘ and the new e-bikes are also helping officers outpace criminals’.
With the operation in full swing, the hope is that phone theft will continue to reduce across the capital. But as Sadiq Khan has acknowledged, ‘we know there is still more to do, which is why as Mayor I’ll continue to prioritise neighbourhood policing’. This indicates that the crackdown on phone theft is far from over.
