back to article Britain’s device-theft capital is now … lovely Leicestershire

Leicestershire – slap-bang in the middle of rural England – has leapfrogged London as the UK’s electronic device-theft capital, according to a comparison of police force stats. A series of FoI (Freedom of Information) requests by ViaSat showed 51 per cent of thefts in Leicestershire were of electronic devices, compared with 27 …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Or another way

    almost 40% of theft of electronic equipment occurs in London (bet I've got my maths wrong on that one)

    Percentages are pretty meaningless

  2. Ru'

    So if some island in the outer hebrides (spelling) had only two robberies,in one year, both involving some electronic item, they would steam to the top of this chart? Cool story bro.

  3. Ben Norris

    It is ok, they are only stealing from odd numbered pockets!

  4. Jagged.Shard

    No too cynical ........

    I would suspect the statistics provided by Met Police.

    Such a large drop in so short a time - almost as if

    someone high-up has decreed that that particular crime

    statistic "must come down".

    Reminds me of the time, two years ago, when I was

    pickpocketed outside the Tower of London. The Met Police

    flatly refused to record it as a pickpocketing and

    insisted on recording as me having lost my wallet in

    the street. Thereby providing an instant lowering

    of the number of pickpocketing incidents in the capital.

    Cynical?? Moi?? Nooooooooo.

  5. Hans 1

    >Combined data from the Metropolitan and City of London police forces showed that thefts of electronic devices had fallen 37 per cent from the number reported last year to the Metropolitan Police alone.

    >Nationwide, there was a 34 per cent fall. This coincided with a drop in the number of thefts in total, which fell by 20 per cent in London and 24 per cent nationwide.

    Maybe it is just the devices that are getting boring, same shit as last year, not worth an upgrade, so no demand, no theft ?

  6. Stevie

    Bah!

    "Leicestershire – slap-bang in the middle of rural England "

    or

    "Leicestershire – 18 miles from decidedly un-rural Coventry and a stone's throw from the urban blight that is Birmingham"

    Now I understand all the Phone Pheft, dunneye?

    1. blahblah

      Re: Bah!

      You seem to be confusing Leicester and Leicester'shire'...

      I live in Leicestershire and Coventry is 40miles away from me....Birmingham 38....

      Like almost every county in the UK there are both urban and rural areas....

      Even Leicester itself is almost 30miles away from me...

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    london crims already have devices and coverage

    they are just catching up...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: london crims already have devices and coverage

      You have to remember it was not worth stealing Vodafone or 3 devices in Leicestershire before they installed more coverage

  8. jrwc

    Maybe this is part of the answer. I'm an American so this correlates to similar problems in our big (liberal) cities:

    "White Britons are now a minority in Leicester, Luton and Slough and Birmingham is set to follow by end of decade

    All three communities have a white British population of less than 50%, 2011 UK census shows, and Birmingham will be the same by 2020

    Slough has the lowest proportion of white Britons in the UK outside London - 35 per cent

    Immigration from Eastern Europe since 2004 a major cause, say academics" - Old headline from another daily UK paper.

    1. WolfFan Silver badge

      Jake, is that you?

  9. Nick Ryan Silver badge

    Lifting phones (or on the odd occasion just MP3 players) is something that would appear to be ludicrously easy on London's transportation systems - mainly underground, trains and buses.

    If I had a mind for it I'd have been able to snatch lots of phones and likely purses as well. How? Why? It's simple: For some reason a huge number of people (mostly female) feel a need to keep their bags open with their purse and phone on the top within easy reach should a call or text come in. They then helpfully (for the would-be tealeaf) sling the bag on their shoulder in a busy place and the only thing protecting their goods is the watchfulness of other passengers as they themselves are totally and utterly oblivious to everything around them. Until they try to find their phone and it's not there of course...

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