Smart home devices – thefts (939A/23)
Request
- Number of crimes in each of the following years; 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 involving smart home devices, with the key devices being “Alexa”, “Apple Home Hub”, “Google Nest”, “Wiz”, “Ring doorbell”, “Eufy”, “Arlo” and “Wyze”.
- How many of these crimes were thefts of smart home devices?
- How many crimes involved evidence collected by smart home devices?
We clarified with you on 12th June 2023 and you responded on 12th June 2023.
For the time period 2020, 2021, 2022 calendar years:
Using the keywords:
“smart speaker”, “security camera”, “smart home device”, “Alexa”, “HomeHub”, “Google Nest”, “Wiz”, “Ring doorbell”, “Eufy”, “Arlo” and “Wyze”.
Q1: How many crimes of “theft” were reported (with the above criteria).
Response
Please find enclosed our response, based on a keyword search as requested.
Keyword searches are notoriously unreliable, the reasons why searches using this method are not reliable include (but are not limited to) the following: –
- a) Searches rely on the keywords being spelt correctly with no grammatical errors
- b) Searches rely on the keywords actually being mentioned in the summary description of the record – if they are mentioned anywhere else within the record but not in the summary, then they will not feature in any results
- c) Searches may retrieve names / nicknames that are the same as the keyword but not relevant to the search
Also, please note that some of these offences are cases where a theft was captured on a security camera / ring doorbell or device listed, not the actual theft of such an item.
| Offence Title | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | Total |
| Abstracting electricity | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Attempted – Theft from shops and stalls | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Attempted – Theft if not classified elsewhere | 2 | 4 | 5 | 11 |
| Attempted – Theft in a dwelling other than from automatic machine or meter | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Attempted – Theft of Mail | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Attempted – Theft or Unauthorised Taking of a Pedal Cycle | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Blackmail | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Making off without payment | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Theft from shops and stalls | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Theft from vehicle other than a motor vehicle | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Theft if not classified elsewhere | 34 | 48 | 102 | 184 |
| Theft in a dwelling other than from automatic machine or meter | 6 | 9 | 9 | 24 |
| Theft of Mail | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Theft or Unauthorised Taking of a Pedal Cycle | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Total | 45 | 71 | 131 | 247 |
Please note that these data should be interpreted with caution. Comparing numbers of incidents/crimes can be misleading and does not necessarily indicate the likelihood of someone being a victim of crime. In addition, the number of incidents/crimes recorded in an area over a period of time can be influenced by a number of factors. Consequently, statistics on incidents/crimes for one period may not necessarily be a good indicator of future incidents in that area.
Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from a number of data sources used by forces for police purposes. The detail collected to respond specifically to your request is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are considered when interpreting those data.
The figures provided therefore are our best interpretation of relevance of data to your request, but you should be aware that the collation of figures for ad hoc requests may have limitations and this should be considered when those data are used.
If you decide to write an article / use the enclosed data we would ask you to take into consideration the factors highlighted in this document so as to not mislead members of the public or official bodies, or misrepresent the relevance of the whole or any part of this disclosed material.
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