The Guardian: Thieves target BBC laptops (and kettles)

Story originally reported on page 5 of The Guardian – Tuesday 23rd December 2014

More than 600 laptops and 83 iPads belonging to the BBC and its staff have been stolen over a five-year period.

The figures have been published after staff complained of an increase in thefts at New Broadcasting House, the BBC’s corporate headquarters in central London.

The BBC said 624 laptops were stolen between 2010 and 2014, plus 109 mobile phones, 98 cameras and 83 iPads.

The most unusual theft was of two fire extinguishers, which were taken in 2011. Over the same period, 34 desktop computers were stolen, along with seven e-readers and four kettles.

The figures were obtained after a freedom of information request by Parliament Street, which describes itself as a right of centre think tank.

Clare George-Hilley, a director at the think tank Parliament Street, said: “These findings show that the BBC must do more to prevent theft and losses at every level of the organisation, taxpayers should not have to pick up the bill for sloppy management of expensive equipment.

“To tackle this, the organisation needs to deliver more effective policies and training to ensure staff understand the importance of looking after devices.”

The BBC’s in-house magazine, Ariel, said thefts inside New Broadcasting House were becoming increasingly common and reported earlier this month that three private letters to the broadcaster’s economics editor, Robert Peston, had been stolen from his desk.

The BBC said: “With thousands of staff and people coming and going in more than 150 BBC buildings at any one time, it is regrettably inevitable personal property and other items occasionally go missing.

“The BBC takes such incidents seriously and has implemented a number of crime prevention measures.”

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