LONDON — Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has requested that Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood require telecommunications companies to disable stolen mobile devices. The Metropolitan Police stated that service reductions are possible following the cancellation of a £50 million Palantir contract.
The Metropolitan Police submitted a formal request to the U.K. government for legislation requiring telecommunications companies to report device reactivation data and implement permanent disabling technology for stolen handsets. Rowley said, "If we share the data we have on the phone stolen with the data they have on things like reactivations and future uses of phones, we can get a global picture of phones being stolen, are they being reactivated, are they being broken down for parts, where they're being exported to in the world." He added, "For the first time, we are routinely sharing intelligence on stolen devices, building a joint picture of how these phones move and whether they reappear in circulation. If stolen phones cannot be reactivated, their value collapses, and so does the incentive to steal them."
London Mayor Sadiq Khan intervened in the procurement process for the Palantir contract, citing concerns that the police force negotiated with only one supplier. Khan said, "Why can't they have a kill switch so a stolen phone can't be used? Why can't they stop somebody having access to a cloud so a phone that's stolen is not reset and reused?" A spokesperson for the mayor of London said, "The mayor fully supports the Met using modern technology to drive efficiencies and improve the performance of the police. However, as with all procurement, we must always ensure the correct processes are followed and that Londoners get value for money. In this case, the Met did not present its procurement strategy for approval, as required, and the process followed by the Met did not adequately demonstrate value for money for Londoners for a proposed contract at this value." Rowley said, "The process followed was legally and commercially compliant."
Between 200 and 300 mobile phones are stolen daily in London, which accounts for approximately 75 percent of all mobile phone thefts in England and Wales. Mobile phones have higher resale values in some international markets due to the absence of government restrictions on device activation found in other regions.
The Metropolitan Police has begun sharing theft data with Apple to monitor whether stolen devices are reconnected to cellular networks. He said, "Whereas a few months ago the majority of stolen phones were being reactivated because of security flaws, now with the security improvements it's the minority being reactivated." Mobile phone thefts in London decreased by 6,700, a 20.6 percent reduction, during the first five months of the current reporting year.
A report submitted to the London Policing Board indicated that the police force may reduce services or staff positions as a result of the decision regarding the Palantir contract. He said, "As a direct result of this decision, we are now scoping at pace tough choice options. While we had a contingency list, we had not developed this work as had hoped not to have to make these reductions. However, we have mobilised the organisation to bring forward options."
The 2026/27 police budget outlined a plan to reduce the total workforce by 1,150 positions, relying on artificial intelligence tools to assist with intelligence reporting and mobile device analysis. He said, "If this funding is not secured, the MPS will need to reassess what is affordable in the context of a police service already required to shrink further this year to balance its budget."