Why are the police boasting about how useless they are?

If you’ve been in the City of London recently, you’ll likely have seen one of the blue plaques that have sprung up on pavements. Instead of pointing out the home of someone memorable, these tell a very different story: “A member of the public had their phone stolen here” reads the message, with the City of London Police’s logo underneath and the slogan, “Look up, look out” on the bottom of the plaque.

When I first saw one, I assumed it was the work of the wave of anti-crime campaigns that have sprung up on social media, which highlight the extent of crime in the capital – and the uselessness of the police in tackling it. It never dawned on me that the police themselves would actually be boasting about how useless they are in tackling one of the most pervasive modern crimes, which is estimated to be a £50 million-a-year trade in London alone.