A surge in “table surfing” by criminals and snatches of valuables is driving a rise in theft offences in London, police said today.
The increase in personal thefts came as overall crime in the capital fell by three per cent, according to the latest police statistics.
There were decreases in most categories of crime in London, although fraud offences also rose.
Police said the increase in personal thefts is mainly down to thieves targeting mobile phones left on tables in bars and clubs and muggers snatching phones in the street.
A Met police spokesman said the rise was of “significant concern” and it had launched a campaign to warn of the risk.
The crime figures were released amid questions over whether a fall in the number of offences might have been overstated.
A study of the differences between crime recorded by police nationally and an annual survey of victims’ experience of crime showed that while both report a fall in offences, police records appear to “overstate the true rate in which crime has been falling”.
The statistics for London show there were a total of 794,083 crimes recorded by police in the 12 months to September 2012. There were falls of two per cent in violent crime, sex offences and household burglary and a fall of five per cent in the number of robberies.
Overall crime in England and Wales fell by eight per cent to a total of 8.9 million offences.
