'Steal to order' phone theft crackdown

Scotland Yard has launched a new initiative to cut mobile phone crime, with a specialist unit dedicated to tackling handset theft.

The National Mobile Phone Crime Unit (NMPCU) will have a wide-ranging remit, from gathering and distributing intelligence on mobile misconduct to implementing strategies to cut crime.

Previous government schemes to cut robbery of phones included publicity campaigns and more coppers pounding the beat in an effort to deter would-be thieves but it was announced today that with half of all street crime involving the theft of a mobile, a new London-based unit has been set up to cut the robbery rate, with around £1m of funding and made up from industry figures and police from across the country.

Immigration and customs and excise officials will also take up seats on the unit. While all stolen mobiles can be blocked for use in the UK, they can still be used abroad, leading criminal gangs to steal the handsets to be exported to counties in Africa, Asia and other parts of Europe, where handset prices aren't subsidised as they are in the UK.

Currently, when a mobile phone is reported lost or stolen in the UK one call to the police can mean it is blocked across all networks in the country. The unit hopes to be able to extend this practice internationally to stop the cross-border trade in stolen phones.