Crack cocaine and the ease of stealing and re-selling mobile phones are two of the four key factors behind increased street crime, according to the Association of Chief Police Officers.
Mobiles are involved in 50% of all robberies in London, and 28% across the country. Thefts can be violent and both victims and attackers tend to be young. But mobile operators and users could be doing more.
Two out of the UK's four operators - Orange and T-Mobile - can bar a stolen handset from their networks if they know its 15-digit identity number. Vodafone and 02 can't do this yet, but plan to introduce an equipment identity register in September that will make this possible.
To make best use of this system, all users should type *#06# on their phone's keypad, or look under their battery, to find out what their ID number is. They should then keep a note of it, separate from their phone, so they can pass it on to the operator in the event of theft.
However, barring the International Mobile Equipment Identifier (IMEI) only prevents a handset being used on its current network, eg Orange. It can still be re-used on the others with a new SIM card.
From September, the IMEI numbers of stolen phones should be shared among operators so a stolen handset won't be able to be used on any UK network - somewhat defeating the object of stealing it, unless the phones are sold overseas in places such as South Africa.
As yet, there are no plans to bar the use of stolen UK handsets on foreign networks. And David Nicholas of O2 said there was no real evidence that this was a problem.
One problem that is about to be addressed is tampering with ID numbers. Some criminals are able to reprogramme phones to change their IMEI number. But the Mobile Telephones (Reprogramming) bill, going through parliament, would make reprogramming a mobile, or selling the equipment to do so, a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of five years in jail.
In the meantime, there are other ways of discouraging crime. When a phone is reported as stolen, its SIM card, associated with its phone number, can be prevented from making calls. But Vodafone has gone a step further and upgraded its SIM barring system.
Anna Cloke, of Vodafone, says: "If a customer knows their phone's ID number, when we bar their SIM, we'll also bar any SIM card the thief tries to put into their old handset. Or into any other Vodafone handset. In effect, this is a way of barring stolen handsets from our network."
There are also some phone-marking products available that make it easier for police to identify a phone as stolen if they recover it. You can get your house/flat number and postcode written invisibly on your mobile so that it can only be read by a police ultraviolet device, if you take it in to a Vodafone or Virgin store. The service is free to customers.
Vodafone and Virgin also sell alphadot paint. Vodafone's Libby Pritchard says: "It's a bit like a tube of mascara. It costs £4.99 and you dab it on to various parts of your mobile. Most of the tiny dots are barely visible apart from a few small red ones, so the police can see that it has been marked.
"The dots contain a unique number that the police will know belongs to your mobile because you fill in a registration card when you buy the tube." Proceeds from the sale of the paint will go towards training in mobile theft prevention, for example for sixth formers, she said.
Mobile phone users should also be a bit more wary. Sarah Taylor, a spokeswoman for Orange, says: "You should treat your phone as you would anything valuable. You would not leave your credit card lying around on a bar or beside you on a table, or on the front seat of your car, so don't do this with your mobile."
Home Office advice includes: using your phone's personal identification number so only you can make calls on it; security marking it, registering it with the operator (if you are a prepaid user), which will make it easier to bar; and avoiding displaying it in public.
Alison Bonny, of Virgin Mobile, suggests avoiding using your phone in dimly lit streets, or in crowds or places where you do not feel safe. If you have a particularly expensive mobile phone, using it with a handsfree or wired headset keeps it hidden.
But just in case you're too scared to whip out your mobile again, Home Office research into phone theft suggests that only 4% of mobiles are stolen using force. Phones belonging to those under 18 tend to get nabbed between 2pm and 10pm. As for those over 18, late evening and the wee small hours are highest risk.
