Westminster tops London for phone thefts with 20,700 offences in 2025

Westminster had more mobile phone thefts and robberies than any other London borough in 2025, with 20,700 offences recorded. The figure represents nearly one in three of the 72,000 such crimes across the capital last year, as reported by MyLondon following Freedom of Information requests to police forces.

London accounted for 87% of all phone thefts and robberies in England and Wales in 2025. The capital’s total fell by 13% from 81,000 offences in 2024, but still equates to 795 thefts per 100,000 residents. Outside London, the rate was 21 per 100,000.

Police and tech firms target stolen phones

The Metropolitan Police Service has partnered with Apple to make stolen phones unusable. Sir Mark Rowley, the Met Commissioner, said the scheme aims to collapse the resale value of stolen devices, removing the incentive for theft. Intelligence on stolen phones is now shared routinely to track their movement.

Rowley said: "If stolen phones cannot be reactivated, their value collapses, and so does the incentive to steal them. We are driving up the risk for offenders while cutting off the reward." He added that policing in the West End had already halved phone thefts through targeted operations.

Operation Reckoning targets prolific thieves

In June, the Met launched Operation Reckoning, a ten-day crackdown on phone theft. Officers arrested prolific and violent thieves, executed search warrants at shops suspected of handling stolen goods, and deployed specialist pursuit drivers to track offenders on e-bikes. The operation focused on disrupting the criminal networks behind the offences.

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said phone thefts had fallen by 13,000 offences in the last year across London. The Mayor’s office attributed the decline to increased neighbourhood policing, new drones, and Sur-Ron bikes, alongside a new Command Cell in the West End to coordinate intelligence and action.

What happens next

The Met will continue to share intelligence with tech firms to block stolen phones. The Mayor’s office said it would push the mobile phone industry to prevent stolen devices from being resold or repurposed. Police operations targeting phone theft will remain a priority, with further crackdowns expected in high-risk areas.