Getting Your Phone Stolen Is a Rite of Passage in London
Theft has increased 25% in the past year. But there's cause for optimism.
Using your mobile phone to take pictures in London? Take care.
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/BloombergLondon has many badges of distinction: the world’s leading financial center outside the US; global capital of theater; host to some of the planet’s most-visited museums; top destination of international students. The city’s latest accolade is one it’s less keen to embrace — the mobile-phone theft capital of Europe.
The crime is so prevalent that it has become almost an initiation rite. Few living in Britain’s capital have been left untouched by phone theft; if not victims ourselves, most of us know, or know of, someone who has been. There were 70,095 recorded thefts from individuals in the year through February, a 25% increase from the preceding 12 months, according to data from the Metropolitan Police Service. The availability of light and powerful (sometimes illegally modified) Chinese-made electric bikes has fueled a spate of street robberies by making it easier for riders to mount the pavement, grab handsets and accelerate away. The internet teems with videos of such snatches.