The Metropolitan Police has revealed that nearly 2300 electronic devices have been lost or stolen from the force in the last two years.
The data, which was obtained by a Freedom of Information request, revealed that 2280 police laptops, tablet computers and mobile phones were lost or stolen in 2019 and 2020.
Within the two-year period, the majority of devices, 1,245, went missing in 2019.
Tablets and iPads were the most commonly misplaced device, with a total of 1,620 going missing over the two-year period, 1,561 being reported as lost and 59 being registered as stolen.
392 mobile phones and 268 laptops also went missing over the period, with laptop thefts almost doubling.
Founder of Griffin Law – the litigation practice which obtained the data – Donal Blaney said: “The Home Secretary and the Information Commissioner need to investigate this catastrophic loss of data urgently. This irresponsible attitude by the Met to electronic devices full of sensitive data relating to criminal investigations should be the last straw.”
He added: “Who knows what was on these devices? More evidence of misogyny, boorish behaviour and criminal wrongdoing among officers, conveniently destroyed to cover it up? And who now has these devices? The very criminals under investigation by the police who now know who gave confidential information about them that led to their arrests? How can anyone have confidence in the Met anymore?”
The findings come amidst extensive criticism of the Metropolitan Police following the murder of Sarah Everard by serving officer Wayne Couzens and calls to root out extensive misogynistic practice within the force. Campaigners now fear data relating to these behaviours and investigations could be missing.
Cybersecurity Evangelist, Torsten George added: “Large organisations like the Met will inevitably experience device losses, particularly with officers engaged in complex operations in the fight against crime.”
“However, such high volumes of lost or stolen items like police laptops and tablets could pose serious risks to victims and witnesses if the data falls into the wrong hands.”