Phone theft in London down 20% as Apple makes stolen handsets 'unusable bricks'

Mobile phone thefts in London have fallen sharply after Apple tightened security on stolen devices. Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley says reactivation rates have dropped from 80% to 20%.

London phone theft drops sharply as Met and Apple share stolen device data

Mobile phone thefts across London have fallen by more than 20% in the first five months of this year, according to the Metropolitan Police, with Westminster recording a reduction of nearly 46% — figures Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley described as "extraordinary" in comments reported by standard.co.uk.

Sir Mark attributed much of the decline to Apple making it significantly harder for thieves to reset and reuse stolen handsets. Devices that cannot be reactivated become, in his words, "unusable bricks" — stripping away the financial incentive that drives much of the crime.

"The interesting bit of data is we used to see even just a few months ago 80% of stolen phones being reactivated," Sir Mark told Sky News. "Now it's about 20% in recent weeks."

Thefts down 14,000 in a single year

The Met said that in the 12 months from June 2025 to May 2026, the number of thefts and robberies involving phones fell by 14,000 — a reduction of 18% on the previous year. The first five months of 2026 alone saw 6,700 fewer offences, a drop of 20.6%.

Westminster, where between 69% and 72% of personal thefts and robberies each week involve phones, has seen the sharpest turnaround, with a 45.8% reduction so far this calendar year. Sir Mark stressed that drones were also being deployed to pursue phone thieves who use e-bikes to escape.

"In Westminster, it's close to half the rate it was a year ago," he said. "You never see crime reduced by 50%."

Data-sharing with Apple to map stolen phone networks

On Thursday, the Met revealed it had begun routinely sharing data with Apple to track whether stolen handsets are reconnected to a phone network after being taken. The announcement followed an operation targeting two phone shops in north London on Wednesday.

Sir Mark said the joint intelligence effort would allow officers to build a global picture of what happens to stolen devices — whether they are reactivated, broken down for parts, or exported abroad.

"If we share the data we have on the phone stolen, with the data they have on things like reactivations and future uses of phones, we can get a global picture of phones being stolen, are they being reactivated, are they being broken down for parts, where they're being exported to in the world," he said.

The international trade in stolen phones is worth millions of dollars. A handset stolen in London commands a higher price in markets such as China precisely because it carries none of the government-imposed restrictions that apply to devices sold there domestically.

In the UK, the Met has identified adverts on Snapchat offering children as much as £380 to steal a single iPhone, with a £100 bonus for stealing ten or more.

Ultimatum to tech firms and call for new legislation

Sir Mark issued an ultimatum to telecoms and technology companies in March, demanding urgent steps to prevent stolen phones from being resold and reused — or face government intervention.

"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," he said.

The Met has since written to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood requesting legislation that would compel phone companies to publish data on stolen devices and whether they are reconnected to networks, and to enforce measures rendering stolen handsets permanently unusable.

At a conference on phone theft in March, Scotland Yard set out three specific demands: that anti-theft protection be switched on by default, that stolen phones be rendered unusable upon report, and that police be granted better access to IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) data to help return devices to their owners.

Recovery rates remain low despite progress

Despite the fall in theft volumes, the proportion of stolen phones that are ultimately returned to their owners remains very low. Figures released under Freedom of Information legislation show that between 2017 and 27 February 2024, a total of 587,498 phones were stolen in London excluding the City of London. Of those, 13,998 were recovered — and 573,500 were not.

Solve rates for phone-related offences are also among the lowest in England and Wales. In the year to the end of December 2025, 6.9% of personal robbery cases ended with a suspect being identified and dealt with. The corresponding figure for theft from the person was just 0.9%.

The Met has some of the highest rates per thousand people of personal robbery and theft from the person in England and Wales, among which phones remain a "significant" problem, the force has said. Sir Mark acknowledged that many Londoners who have a phone stolen have little confidence it will be found or that any culprit will face consequences — but argued the latest data showed the picture was changing.

Source: Google News UK — Crime (en)