Reid plans gadget crime summit
Updated on 02 May 2007
Home Secretary John Reid is planning a summit with leading technology manufacturers in a bid to tackle gadget crime.
The move comes after the latest crime figures showed the number of street robberies recorded by police jumped 8% to 26,600 in the last quarter of 2006.
Mr Reid argued that the next generation of personal gadgets like mobiles and MP3 players should have anti-crime measures built in.
"If I had one piece of advice it would be to the manufacturers - and that is help us to design in features which reduce crimes," he told the BBC.
He cited agreements with operators to ensure mobile phones - and not just Sim cards - were disabled within two days of being stolen.
"That knocks the bottom out of the market because if people steal these phones increasingly they recognise that can't sell them," he told the BBC.
Mr Reid said overall crime was down by 35%, but added: "New technology, lifestyle changes, new commodities and new gadgets, mean that the criminals continually move on.
"So when we defeat them on mobile phones they move on to Sat-Navs, they move on to iPods."
And he urged buyers of new mobile phones: "Don't just look at your call tones, don't just look at the camera quality, ask how does this prevent people actually stealing it and selling it again, what are the anti-crime characteristics?"
A Home Office spokeswoman said Mr Reid was inviting manufacturers to a meeting to discuss the best way of moving forward.
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