Am I the only one here who doesnt really care that the government is watching me all the time? London effectively eliminated violent crime by watching everyone all the time, doesnt seem to bad to me.
Doesn't seem like it: https://abcnews.com/International/report-london-safer-cctv-c...
In any case, recovery rate is the other important metric here especially for justifying a surveillance state, and that has been absolutely terrible.
Robbery is theft using force or the immediate threat of force. The article you linked to says that much of the phone theft is done by pickpocketing.