Met Police chief demands vendors act on phone theft or he’ll push for legislation

The Metropolitan Police has warned mobile phone manufacturers and technology companies they must take urgent action to combat handset theft or risk government legislation. 

Speaking at the Met’s first International Mobile Phone Crime Conference in London this week, Commissioner Mark Rowley said the industry must deliver solutions that make stolen devices unusable anywhere in the world.

The conference was attended by law enforcement agencies, government representatives and industry stakeholders to discuss the growing global trade in stolen smartphones.

He warned that if meaningful proposals are not put forward by June, the force will formally ask the UK Government to legislate.

“Now is the time to move from discussion to delivery,” Rowley said. “Every delay means more people enduring the stress, disruption and fear of having their phone stolen.”

The comments come as the Met claims progress in tackling the issue. Mobile phone theft in London fell by 12.3 per cent in 2025, dropping from 81,365 offences in 2024 to 71,391 , around 10,000 fewer victims.

Police say the reduction follows targeted enforcement across the entire criminal chain, from street-level phone snatchers to organised gangs exporting stolen devices abroad. A recent four-week crackdown saw officers make 248 arrests, including suspects linked to international trafficking networks.

However, Rowley argued policing alone cannot solve the problem while stolen phones retain high resale value overseas.

“What looks like a street-level snatch is in fact the entry point to a transnational criminal business worth hundreds of millions of pounds,” he said.

But the focus on manufacturers and technology firms is likely to be controversial within the mobile sector, where many argue significant anti-theft protections are already built into modern smartphones.

Industry insiders say the real challenge lies elsewhere: the global resale market for stolen devices.

Calls to make stolen phones “unusable anywhere in the world” may prove difficult to implement in practice without much wider international coordination.“

Ernest Doku, mobile specailist at uSwitch said: ” Metropolitan Police’s call for a deadline highlights a critical need for change in how our devices are protected.  The most effective safety features are often overlooked because they are tucked away in complicated menus rather than being on automatically.

“Our research shows that while 85 per cent of people try to practise safety behaviours, just 34 per cent have tracking tools enabled, and fewer than half have two-factor authentication, proving that the current ‘opt-in’ model is not working for users.

“ We support the call to make anti-theft protections the industry standard, ensuring stolen phones can be blocked globally to remove the resale value that drives this crime.