Phone snatching has halved during a “relentless” police crackdown on knife-wielding moped robbers targeting City workers and tourists.
Since June, there have been 263 offences in the Square Mile compared to 516 for the same four-month period last year.
City of London and Metropolitan Police detectives launched the initiative ahead of a feared rise in muggings by thieves on bikes and scooters over the summer months.
Uniformed and plain-clothes officers were deployed in hot spots as offenders preyed on restaurant-goers and commuters.
Police sprayed criminals and their mopeds with a DNA spray in a bid to link them to crimes if they raced away. Shop owners suspected of buying stolen handsets were raided.
In May, the Standard joined officers on a 4am raid on the Camberwell home of a 19-year-old man suspected of carrying out a spate of snatches and handling stolen goods. He remains on bail.
Last October, City broker Henry Charlton-Weedy, 35, was one of three people slashed by balaclava-clad thugs as they helped a phone robbery victim in Bishopsgate. Louis Parkinson, 26, and Tyrone Dean, 24, were jailed for 12 years for their “mindless violence and utter lawlessness”. In August, a judge commended Mr Charlton-Weedy and eight others who thwarted them and helped injured victims.
Superintendent Neal Donohoe, of the City of London Police, said: “Phone snatching has a significant impact on victims and our key priority has been to reduce the number of phones stolen and we relentlessly target those criminals responsible.
“Our success has been due to the hard work of our officers and the introduction of our highly visible cycle team, who are able to quickly get across the Square Mile and deter snatchers.”
The force is reminding visitors ahead of the Christmas period to stay alert to protect themselves from phone theft.
James Thomson, chair of the City of London Police Authority Board, added: “With well over half a million workers commuting into the City of London, many on a daily basis, and over 10 million visitors annually, the Square Mile appears attractive to phone snatchers.
“The City of London Police have been very proactive and innovative in the way these ways these criminals are tackled, phones are recovered and the most prolific perpetrators jailed. This has been complemented by crime prevention messaging. The results speak for themselves.
“The Square Mile continues to be the safest business district in the world for all those that live, work or visit.”
