Keep Your Mobile Safe
Last updated: 21/02/2007 - 16:32
Mobile phone users can thwart thieves by keeping their mobile safe and information about it even safer.
In the past six weeks police in Sunderland have received a number of reports of mobile phones being stolen, many of taken while the phone was in the victim's hand. In response to this recent spate of thefts PC Joe Bradley - crime prevention officer for Northumbria Police's Sunderland Area Command - said: "By taking a few simple steps you can reduce the risk of becoming a victim of mobile phone theft or robbery.
"Keeping your mobile phone in a secure pocket or handbag when out and about will stop it being snatched from you but if you do need to use it make sure you have your wits about you.
"If it is stolen, by providing the police with some basic information about your phone, you can make it more difficult for a thief to use it. Please record these details and keep them in a safe place."
Police recommend noting the following details:
The advice forms part of Chief Constable Mike Craik's pledge of total policing to tackle crime and disorder at all levels, which is supported by Northumbria Police Authority.
PC Bradley adds: "The 15 digit serial or IMEI number helps to identify your phone and can be accessed by keying *#06# or by looking behind the battery of your phone. This number enables the phone to be blocked even if the SIM card has been changed."
Tyneside, Wearside and Northumberland are amongst the safest places in the country to live. Crime in the area fell by 7% in 2006 and has dropped 37% since the early 1990s.
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