A ‘Love Your Phone’ campaign has been launched by Leicestershire Police. Hundreds of posters were distributed around Leicester city centre to encourage young people in particular to look after their mobile phones and avoid having them on display in public. The posters were created using photographs of students taken in the photo booth at a ‘student lock in’ at the Highcross Shopping Centre.
Last November figures showed a spike in theft from person; the police are hoping to reduce the number of mobile thefts in the lead up to Christmas. Clubs such as Liquid/Envy and Republic are working with Leicestershire Police to raise awareness by advertising the campaign in their clubs and on their social media platforms.
Matthew Symmes, manager of Liquid/Envy, said: “We are extremely happy to be backing this campaign and to display the posters around our venue. Mobile phones are expensive and we want to urge people to take care in looking after them.”
Manager of Club Republic, Jamie Kellett, said: “This is a really simple and effective campaign that we are glad to be a part of. By having the posters within Club Republic we hope young people will be more aware to keep their mobile phones safe.“
Over the last few weeks, officers and volunteers have been going into nightclubs on Friday and Saturday nights to help make clubbers aware of the importance of keeping mobiles safe and out of sight to avoid them being snatched out of their hands as they head home.
Inspector Simon Preston, City Centre policing Commander, said: “We are really passionate about tackling the number of people who are victims of mobile theft and really want to remind people to keep their mobile phones safe and avoid using them when they’re out and about, especially during the autumn and winter season. We do think people could do more to prevent themselves becoming a victim of this type of crime that’s why we want people to ‘love their phone!’
“Treat it like the valuable thing it is – look out for it, keep it safe, keep it out of sight and make it as easy as possible for the police to get it back to you if it is taken.”
