Phone owners urged to activate 'find my phone' app
11/01/2013
‘Smart’ phone owners are being encouraged to
activate an application which could help police track down their
phones if stolen.
The ‘find my phone’ app provides an accurate
GPS location of the phone and gives the owner the option to
instruct it to let off a loud alert even when in silent mode.
Acting Inspector Rob Rands at Bangor Police
said “This is an excellent piece of technology which not only keeps
us one step ahead of thieves but also acts as a deterrent.
There is plenty of evidence regionally and nationally on how the
‘app’ has aided phone recovery and crime detection.
“Colleagues in North Wales Police were able to
locate a stolen iPhone and return it to its owner using an
application which gives the current location of a phone. A
woman who had her phone stolen from a public house told officers
she had previously activated the application. As a result
officers were able to log on to the victim’s account and locate on
a map where her phone was.
Police searched an address but were unable to
find the phone until an officer activated the alert, leading them
to the garden of the property where a phone was found which led to
the arrest and cautioning of the offender. Equally
importantly the owners phone, containing a great deal of personal
information was recovered and returned to her.
A/Inspector Rands concluded "The ‘find my
phone’ application could help police trace your phone if it is
stolen but it relies on the owner creating a simple account to
activate it beforehand. We would appeal to owners of smart
phones and other devices like the iPad to activate the application
as soon as they can.”
Details of the 'find my phone' app can be
found on a number of on-line web sites.