MPs and other Parliament workers have also reported their devices being taken off them
Dawn told Metro: ‘We are frequently being sent out alerts,saying to be vigilant around the parliamentary estate as someone has just had their phone stolen.’
Last year,parliamentary data revealed six phones were stolen from House of Commons staff,three from members of the House of Lords and one MP reported their phone as snatched.
What is the Metropolitan Police doing to stop phone snatching?
Officers have made hundreds of arrests in a bid to stop phone snatchers from targetting Londoners.They arrested 230 suspected phone snatchers in the space of just a week,and recovered 1,000 mobiles during their raids.Officers also carried out raids in second-hand phone shops and used helicopters to find the thieves.Commander Owain Richards,who is leading the Met’s response to phone thefts,said: ‘We are seeing phone thefts on an industrial scale,fuelled by criminals making millions by being able to easily sell on stolen devices either here or abroad.‘By intensifying our efforts we’re catching more perpetrators and protecting people from having their phone stolen in the capital. But we need help from partners and industry to do more.‘That is why we’re working with other agencies and government to tackle the organised criminality driving this trade and calling on tech companies to make stolen phones unusable.’Labour MP Chris Webb said he was mugged by a gang as he walked out of parliament along Lambeth Walk in November.He said how a ‘stealthy’ group on bikes caught him off guard and grabbed him,but he managed to lock his phone with his smartwatch and police were able to track the suspects down.But sadly,Mr Webb’s phone was not recovered.
What is the Metropolitan Police doing to stop phone snatching?
As well as the latest Operation EchoSteep win,officers have made hundreds of arrests in a bid to stop phone snatchers from targetting Londoners.They arrested 230 suspected phone snatchers in the space of just a week,fuelled by criminals making millions by being able to easily sell on stolen devices either here or abroad.‘By intensifying our efforts we’re catching more perpetrators and protecting people from having their phone stolen in the capital. But we need help from partners and industry to do more.‘That is why we’re working with other agencies and government to tackle the organised criminality driving this trade and calling on tech companies to make stolen phones unusable.’
