A journalist had his camera equipment stolen in Shoreditch, but the Metropolitan Police initially failed to handle the report due to a system error, redirecting him to the City of London Police.
Luke Reevey was at a bar near Old Street station celebrating a colleague's final shift when he noticed his black rucksack, containing a video camera, tripod, and microphone, had vanished from the corner where it had been sitting.
After staff confirmed nothing had been handed in, Reevey reviewed CCTV with the bar manager. The footage showed two men near the door, with one using his foot to drag the rucksack forward before the other picked it up and walked off.
Call handling error
Reevey called 999, but the operator said the bar's exact address was not in their system and concluded it "must be in the City of London," providing him with the City Police number. Despite his insistence that the location was in the Met's jurisdiction, the call ended.
The City of London Police were helpful in filing the crime report, even though the incident occurred outside their area. By this point, the bag had been missing for 45 minutes.
Met Police apology
The next morning, the Met Police called to apologise, admitting they should have handled the report. The error occurred because the bar's address did not receive a 'Happy House' tag in their Computer-Aided Dispatch system, which marks locations within the Met's jurisdiction.
A spokesperson said: "We apologise for the handling of this call and for any additional distress this caused. The call has been reviewed internally, and appropriate action has been taken to ensure the same mistake does not happen again. The investigation into the theft is ongoing."
The Met acknowledged that three other indicators—the borough of Tower Hamlets, the EC2A postcode, and proximity to Old Street station—should have informed the operator otherwise.
Impact of the delay
Reevey noted that with proper handling, patrolling officers could have been given the suspect's description and clothing. He questioned whether a more serious crime, such as domestic abuse, would receive a similar inadequate response.
The journalist expressed disappointment that the error compromised the capital's standards, and he appealed for help locating his Panasonic Lumix S5II camera if it appears for sale online.
