Met uses flickr to expose looters

The Metropolitan Police is urging members of the pub to visit its flickr site to help identify suspected looters in London, as the force steps up its operation to find the perpetrators of the violence.
The Met said in a statement on its website on Tuesday that it had issued the “first of many images of suspects” from CCTV cameras.
“Those who have or intend to go out and commit violent criminal acts should be warned. We will have photographs and evidence that we will use to identify you and bring you to justice,” said Commander Simon Foy.
“Today we are releasing the first of many, many images of people we will be speaking to in connection with the scenes of violence. We will not tolerate the violence that has been seen in parts of London.”
The Met added that its Major Investigation Team will be going through thousands of hours of CCTV footage to apprehend more suspects.
Last week, Lewisham police posted pictures of stolen goods on the site, in an attempt to reunite the items with their owners.
The move comes as looters were warned that any smartphones or mobiles they have stolen will be rendered worthless or – even more likely – lead police straight to them.
Once store owners have examined their stock records, they will be able to report the hardwired IMEI numbers for each lost handset. Networks will then be able to block them with any SIM within 24 hours.
At this point, the easiest route is to attempt to sell the handsets on the black market to unsuspecting members of the public unaware how easily stolen sets can be blocked.
Anyone using a stolen but unblocked handset with a registered contract SIM will also be at risk of leading police straight to their house; pay as you go SIMs cannot be traced in this way but can be blocked from the network.