Neighbourhood operation in Manchester city centre is reuniting phones with rightful owners

The city centre is a hotspot for personal robberies and thefts owing to high footfall, particularly around the night time economy, which has been heightened over the festive period.

Operation Reunite has been running in the city centre since 2022 and within this time, a number of mobile phones have been reunited with their rightful owners, but there are many more phones that officers are working hard to locate. The process of reuniting them can be made quicker by the public registering their mobile phones on Immobilise so they can be correctly matched to their rightful owners.

Inspector Kam Hare of GMP’s city centre neighbourhood team, said: “Our city centre hosts a variety of pubs, clubs and bars which are open throughout the night and into the early hours of the morning.

“We want people to enjoy the great nightlife our city has to offer, and we have a number of dedicated patrols in place throughout the night to keep people safe, but we are also looking to equip members of the public with crime prevention advice to make it easy for you to make it hard for opportunistic thieves.

“Mobile phones can be lost within premises and we have been working hard with our partners, including bars and restaurants, to deliver training sessions to the staff who work in these venues. We endeavour to create a system where lost mobile phones could be collected by staff at the venues and are then brought to the local police station for officers to look at the identifying the phone number and reunite them with their owners before they are reported as stolen.

“Ensuring that your phone is registered on Immobilise will make it easier for officers to match the owner to the mobile phone so it can be reunited as quick as possible.

"At this time of year, the city centre will remain busy, especially over the coming weeks and we want people to enjoy the festive period, so there will be an increase of highly visible patrols in hotspot areas throughout the festive period to keep people safe.

“If you have any concerns about crime come and speak to officers or alternatively report through 101 or via LiveChat on gmp.police.uk. Always call 999 in an emergency."

Make sure you know how to identify your phone if it's stolen from you:

Each phone has an IMEI number, this helps police identify the device if it's stolen. You can find your phone’s IMEI number by dialling *#06# from your phone and keep a written note of it; if the phone is stolen, report the number to your mobile provider to stop it being used.

Register your valuables on an accredited property database such as The National Property Register, for Phones, Gadgets, Bicycles & More... (immobilise.com)

Remember to never confront criminals or risk your own safety for the sake of your mobile phone or valuables.

For more neighbourhood crime prevention advice from GMP, please visit: Protect your phone | Greater Manchester Police