Police have unveiled high speed e-bikes being used “to beat criminals at their own game” in the war against phone snatchers.
Sur-ron off-road cycles are so lightweight they can accelerate to 50mph in 3.6 seconds.
Until now, they have only been utilised by the likes of London’s most notorious mobile thief Sonny Stringer, 28, jailed for grabbing an astonishing 24 handsets in one morning.
But the City of London Police is set to join Metropolitan Police colleagues who have five of their own to keep up with the city’s £50m-a-year trade in snatched devices.
The electric fleet will differ from offenders’ bikes by having distinctive force logos, flashing lights and sirens.
Criminals on Chinese-made Sur-rons can silently approach victims and then evade capture by fleeing along pavements before leaving pursuing officers in their wake on roads.
Weaving through heavy traffic, the £4,900 bikes easily slash the 40 minutes it often takes a response car to get from Green Park to Finsbury Park, a well-worn five-mile route.
Commander Umer Khan told the Standard: “We will tackle phone snatching using all available tactics.
“We want the City to be a welcoming place of national and historic significance for visitors, workers and the people living here.
“We also want it to be a hostile environment for anyone thinking of coming into the Square Mile to commit criminality. We will get you one way or another - and bring you to justice.”
Deputy Commissioner Paul Betts says phone snatching has reduced by nearly 30 per cent in the Square Mile since January due to a rage of tactics being deployed.
On Wednesday, police intensified patrols in hotspot areas and increased visibility, supported by dedicated resources in CCTV control rooms. A 21-year-old man was arrested in Camden.
Illegal e-bikes were seized by the force’s Cycle Team and officers on Sur-ron bikes demonstrated their tactical capabilities to the public outside London Liverpool Street Station.
Deputy Commissioner Betts added: “Having your phone swiped has a huge impact on people’s lives, the stealing of an expensive device also makes someone a risk of fraudulent activity.
“It’s a horrible crime and our message is clear, we won’t tolerate it in the City.
“Early results of Operation Swipe are positive, bucking the trend in the rise of this prevalent crime, but we’re going the extra mile to keep the City safe and feeling safe for residents, businesses and visitors.”
Following on from the successful placement of fake blue plaques spray-painted onto pavements in the Square Mile to mark where mobile phones have been stolen, the force is now putting them where thieves are arrested.
London has become Europe’s phone snatch capital with criminals taking 70,137 devices last year - 192 a day or one every seven-and-a-half minutes.
New figures show in three months of 2025, more than £7,000 a day was defrauded from victims following thefts.
But from the over 1,000 stolen phones recovered by City of London Police in two years, fewer than half have been returned because the owner could not be traced.
Proactive action by the City of London Police to prevent phone snatching has seen a nearly 30% reduction in the crime.
— City of London Police (@CityPolice) May 21, 2025
Figures released today show the number of reported phones snatched in the Square Mile is down in the first four months of 2025, compared with the previous year. pic.twitter.com/WLBCVstyt8
Free phone marking was offered in Aldgate Square, Ludgate Hill and Liverpool Street and the force reminded owners to set up the medical ID contact on their phone, allowing police access to next of kin details if needed.
People must also turn on facial recognition settings, use 2-Step Verification and must not to keep passwords in unencrypted notes.
Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said: “For too long phone theft has been a neglected crime.
“These results from City of London Police demonstrate that effective neighbourhood policing can make our streets safer.
“Through our Plan for Change we are building on this type of successful policing, supporting police with new powers in our Crime and Policing Bill to recover stolen devices without a warrant, while investing in 13,000 new neighbourhood officers to get more police back on the beat.”
