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Police are using a hand-held scanner to detect stolen mobile phones in a campaign against street robbery.
The devices, which can detect almost instantly if a phone has been lost or stolen, are being deployed around transport routes in Bromley to deter thefts among mainly young people.
The scanner, called Apollo, is linked wirelessly to a national stolen phone database and can electronically read a mobile's serial number - known as an IMEI number - to tell if it has been reported lost or stolen.
Officers in Ealing are also using the devices on a trial basis.
Bromley Chief Superintendent Charles Griggs said: "I want to put the word around that we are out there on the buses and transport routes actively looking for stolen phones.
"This is not the complete answer but it is another tool to help us identify stolen property. If we find people with stolen phones, they can be arrested."
The scanner's makers claim it is also useful in the fight against more serious crime and terrorism. Andy Gill, managing director of Radio Tactics, said: "Phones are shipped en masse to countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan where terrorist networks use them as a means of making money."
Two years ago, mobile phones were involved in half of street robberies and fuelled a crimewave among children. The figures fell when the phone industry agreed to block stolen numbers within 24 hours. Criminals can unblock phones but face prosecution if caught.
Industry chiefs say the initiative is working. There were 67,233 mobiles reported stolen in London last year - an 18.5 per cent fall on the previous year.
However, police fear the recession and more sophisticated mobile phones will lead to a new surge in robberies.
Reader views (2)
Nigel, I suspect that making the IMEI physically unchangeable (as opposed to making changing it illegal, which is the case in the UK) would cost the manufacturers more. In any case, it would be pretty pointless as blocking known-stolen IMEIs is not done by all operators world-wide, so there are plenty of countries that stolen mobiles can be exported to for re-sale.
- Roy, England, 23/09/2009 09:33
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What I don't understand is how criminals are able to un-block the stolen phones. The IMEI number shuld be an unchangeable part of the phone from manufacture. If it is unchangeable, then once the phone is on the stolen-phone list, it will never work again, and then there would be no point at all in stealing them.
- Nigel, London, 22/09/2009 14:16
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