New York Criminal Defense Attorney Blog
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced this week during his weekly radio address that there was an increase in the crime rate in New York City in 2012 as compared to 2011. In 2012, there were 108,432 major crimes reported, a 3.3 increase in major crimes reported in 2011, when there were 104,948. Bloomberg attributes a large percentage of this increase to a significant rise in thefts of IPhones and IPads. There were 3,890 more thefts of Apple devices in 2012 than in 2011. The mayor’s press secretary noted that “If you just took away the jump in Apple, we’d be down for the year.”
The 40% jump in reported thefts of IPads and IPhones was announced by the New York City Police Department in September of 2012. Apple products are apparently much preferred by thieves over similar devices such as the Samsung Galaxy according to Bloomberg.
In order to fight this dramatic increase, the NYPD has been conducting sting operations to apprehend thieves attempting to sell devices that they have stolen. Additionally, the police have initiated a service called “Operation ID” to assist people in locating mobile devices that have been stolen or lost. It appears that IPhones are frequently a target of thieves in the subways, since they can steal the device and then make a quick getaway as the train is entering or leaving the station. The NYPD utilizes decoy officers as one means to fight this trend, but due to the proliferation of the devices, so far the thieves have not been significantly deterred.
Apple is reportedly in the process of obtaining a patent for a theft detection system which would cause an alarm to go off if the device recognized that it was stolen, although it is not clear how the device would discover this fact. Mayor Bloomberg has requested that people keep their phones in an inside pocket in tighter clothes, where the device would be harder to reach and they would feel is someone placed their hand in his or her pocket. However, this is advice for users of IPhones or other hand held devices who are the victims of furtive thieves, certainly would not assist the user of an IPad who is confronted by a thief demanding that the IPad be handed over.
Contact The Westchester County Criminal Defense Lawyers online or toll free at (914) 428-7386 if you have been charged with a crime or traffic infraction for a free initial consultation with an experienced defense attorney to discuss the charges against you, your rights and legal options.