This resource is from the News section. This page contains press release 33/01, which discusses the possibility of introducing the a technological method of fighting mobile phone thefts as used by the Dutch police.

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• Going Dutch - technology fights back
  • Notes to editors

Going Dutch - technology fights back

33/01
30 May 2001

Technology is at the forefront of the fight by Dutch police against mobile phone thefts. A two day fact finding visit to police in Amsterdam by Richard Barnes, Deputy Chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority and Sir John Stevens, Commissioner of the Met, has resulted in this innovative and effective scheme being brought back to London to tackle the ever increasing problem of stolen mobile phones.

When a mobile phone is reported as stolen in Amsterdam, police text a message every three minutes to the phone which says "This phone is stolen. To buy or sell a stolen phone is an offence. Please take the phone to the nearest police station." This message continues till the phone is either switched off or abandoned. The scheme was so successful that the mothers of young people who had acquired stolen mobile phones were even bringing phones into police stations themselves.

Richard Barnes, Deputy Chair of the MPA said:

"This crime is mostly committed by young people on young people but the scheme will render the stolen phone useless. This innovative approach is using technology to defend itself – a simple but effective idea from which everyone benefits."

The strategy had an immediate impact – over a period of approximately twelve weeks there was a 42 per cent drop in mobile phone thefts in Amsterdam. Initially police paid for the message service, but it is hoped these costs will be taken over by the insurance companies or mobile phone companies themselves.

The purpose of the two day visit by the delegation from the MPA and the MPS was to share best practice with their Dutch colleagues, looking at how police in Amsterdam tackle crimes that Londoners too suffer from, particularly street crime and mobile phone theft. Currently mobile phone thefts account for 39 per cent of all street robberies dealt with by the Met and last year a total of 19,302 mobile thefts were reported in London.

Notes to editors

The Metropolitan Police Authority took over responsibility for the Metropolitan Police Service from the Home Secretary on 3 July 2000.

Further media information

For further information, please contact the MPA press office.