Cops...

[byegad]

A phone is logged as lost rather than stolen. This from an ex-copper friend who now works for the Police as a civvy. Even when you can track and photograph the thief it is lost property, so not a crime.

All to keep the statistics down of course.

 

[nickyboy]

A phone is logged as lost rather than stolen. This from an ex-copper friend who now works for the Police as a civvy. Even when you can track and photograph the thief it is lost property, so not a crime.

All to keep the statistics down of course.

That was what I feared. Performance statistics driving policing rather than the other way around. Rather cynical

 

[Beebo]

Another problem with lost / stolen mobile phones is that many insurance companies require a crime number, so people who have got drunk or been careless with their phones report them stolen, when in all honesty they were just lost or damaged. It's an extra burden on already overworked police.
They will pull out all the stops with something serious like a missing child, but stolen / lost phones are never going to be a priority.

 

[byegad]

I sympathise somewhat with the Police's attitude.

When I worked for a well known mobile phone company the number of numpties calling to report they'd lost their phone when they left it on the table or bar in a pub when they went to the toilet was amazing. As the Insurers had us record exactly what they said, the first time they called we knew they'd not be covered. Telling said numpty that we'd sell him a replacement for anything from £80 to £ always got a great reaction! My return reaction was always. Well you left an item worth £xx on the table in a pub. Would you leave that much in notes in the same place?

Of course they wouldn't. Insurers require due care of the item, as I told the guy who 'lost his' after he threw it out of the window of a moving car somewhere between Dover and Folkestone 'Cos it kept ringing while he was driving'!! I kid you not. He was less than chuffed when I told him the insurers wouldn't cover it.

 

[jefmcg]

Only until thieves realise it's pointless to steal an iDevice because they cannot be re-used and thus cannot be sold. Once word gets around, iDevice thefts will decrease dramatically.

How quickly do they block sims these days? When my phone was stolen a number of years ago (t-mobile) there was > £200 worth of calls made on it, 12 hours after I had reported it stolen. To Algeria. Which they billed me for.

Now, they cancelled the bill when I called them about it, but the disturbing thing was how long it took to block the sim. I imagine the sim was used to make untraceable/untapped calls, and if a sim is still viable 12 hours after it is reported stolen, then stolen phones will be a valuable commodity, even if the phone itself has to be dumped.

 

[CopperBrompton]

if a sim is still viable 12 hours after it is reported stolen, then stolen phones will be a valuable commodity, even if the phone itself has to be dumped.

A network ought to do that within minutes of it being reported. But if you're a thief and have the choice of stealing a phone you can use and then sell vs one you can never sell, which are you going to take?

 

[fossyant]

Phone theft is petty crime. The police have very limited resorces to repsond to stff like this.

 

[Roadrider48]

Behind a desk doing paperwork.

I was going to mention that too.

 

[Roadrider48]

I sympathise somewhat with the Police's attitude.

When I worked for a well known mobile phone company the number of numpties calling to report they'd lost their phone when they left it on the table or bar in a pub when they went to the toilet was amazing. As the Insurers had us record exactly what they said, the first time they called we knew they'd not be covered. Telling said numpty that we'd sell him a replacement for anything from £80 to £ always got a great reaction! My return reaction was always. Well you left an item worth £xx on the table in a pub. Would you leave that much in notes in the same place?

Of course they wouldn't. Insurers require due care of the item, as I told the guy who 'lost his' after he threw it out of the window of a moving car somewhere between Dover and Folkestone 'Cos it kept ringing while he was driving'!! I kid you not. He was less than chuffed when I told him the insurers wouldn't cover it.

It is quite standard practice though for insurance companies to offer policies that do cover mobile phones being just "lost"....
I speak from experience; I stupidly left my brand new iphone5 on a bench outside Sainsburys when I was searching for my car keys. I admitted this to my insurers and probably two weeks later I received a bank transfer for just over £600 to cover the loss.
Just to add to that, I have been offered policies in the past by various insurers that cover mobile phones if you just happen to lose it or leave it somewhere. They actually push the fact that they will pay out under those circumstances.

 

[Roadrider48]

Phone theft is petty crime. The police have very limited resorces to repsond to stff like this.

Agreed! But it's still a crime, and it's damn annoying when they are not in the least bit interested.
Funny though how 6 coppers can surround you when they do random stop checks.
Just sayin'....

 

[Roadrider48]

How quickly do they block sims these days? When my phone was stolen a number of years ago (t-mobile) there was > £200 worth of calls made on it, 12 hours after I had reported it stolen. To Algeria. Which they billed me for.

Now, they cancelled the bill when I called them about it, but the disturbing thing was how long it took to block the sim. I imagine the sim was used to make untraceable/untapped calls, and if a sim is still viable 12 hours after it is reported stolen, then stolen phones will be a valuable commodity, even if the phone itself has to be dumped.

A block is done immediately as soon as you call the company. They. Block the phone and the sim.
And if you've got the relevant software you can even remotely clear it from your end.

 

[Roadrider48]

The brits by nature are moaners not complainers in my opinion, now I could well be wrong. But unless we do more complaining nothing will change.

Quite right....good point!

 

[Spoked Wheels]

I'd like to know what exactly police do nowadays. As far I understand the problem, a burglary doesn't get much more attention than my daughter got for her stolen phone.

Phone theft is petty crime. The police have very limited resorces to repsond to stff like this.

So we keep been told. Aren't we as society at fault for raise in petty theft with such attitude? I mean, if it's all the same having our bikes / phones stolen cause for the police such incident is just a number on a piece of paper. If we are happy to accept that without any fuss then I think it's our fault as society.

How short of resources? I think we have all seen on tv when a drunken guy has a go at a policeman... in not time you see 20 policemen trying to put a single drunk guy into a police van

 

[byegad]

It is quite standard practice though for insurance companies to offer policies that do cover mobile phones being just "lost"....
I speak from experience; I stupidly left my brand new iphone5 on a bench outside Sainsburys when I was searching for my car keys. I admitted this to my insurers and probably two weeks later I received a bank transfer for just over £600 to cover the loss.
Just to add to that, I have been offered policies in the past by various insurers that cover mobile phones if you just happen to lose it or leave it somewhere. They actually push the fact that they will pay out under those circumstances.

And I bet they charge more than the mobile networks do for it. The standard one for my Company (I left 10 years a go and things may well have changed by now.) was £5/month. They expected due diligence, like not leaving it in a public place unattended. To me that was reasonable. These days many motor policies won't cover vehicle theft where the car is left unattended with the keys in. I feel that's reasonable. No doubt others will differ.

 

[byegad]

A block is done immediately as soon as you call the company. They. Block the phone and the sim.
And if you've got the relevant software you can even remotely clear it from your end.

And if they block it at the call centre the time is recorded of when it is blocked, and the company I worked for was responsible for any calls made after that time. As the systems do have issues where requests are queued until the capacity is there to action it that was important and we would leave a note on the system, time stamped as all were to the effect we'd blocked it.