There’s a story in the New York Times where New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has released stats that have crime up in the city due to iDevice thefts:
“If you just took away the jump in Apple, we’d be down for the year,” said Marc La Vorgna, the mayor’s press secretary.
On the radio, Mr. Bloomberg said that Apple products appeared to be the preference for many thieves, noting that he was not including thefts of competing devices, like the Samsung Galaxy, in his count.
And he offered some practical advice for listeners, urging them to keep their devices in an interior, hard-to-reach pocket.
“Put it in a pocket in sort of a more body-fitting, tighter clothes, that you can feel if it was — if somebody put their hand in your pocket, not just an outside coat pocket,” the mayor said.
Having almost been iMugged several years ago, I can say that’s good advice.
One thing to note, it seems that Samsung could only wish to be that popular. After all, if your product is so popular that it is blamed for an increase in crime, that can’t be bad for business. But it is bad for crime stats and those who are victims of crime.
NYC Thieves Prefer iPhones And iPads
Posted in Commentary with tags Apple, New York City on January 13, 2014 by itnerdThe Wall Street Journal has a very interesting story on grand larcenies reported to the NYPD in 2013. A significant number of them were iPhones and iPads:
Apple products are so popular among criminals that the NYPD specifically tracks thefts of that brand, officials said. In 2013, Apple products made up more than 18% of all grand larcenies—that is more than 8,000 devices, according to police. In 2002, there were 25 grand larcenies of Apple products, police said.
A spokeswoman for the company said Apple has “led the industry in helping customers protect their lost or stolen devices” since it launched its “Find My iPhone” app in 2009, which allows users to track a stolen phone and erase personal data remotely.
What also doesn’t help is the fact that most victims will file a report, but do little beyond that. Plus the fact that the thieves if caught plead down to lesser charges. Thus police in NYC urge iDevice users to activate the “Find my iPhone” feature. That’s good advice regardless of where you live. The department also has a program where people can register their electronic devices at the local precinct, making it easier for police to return it if it is recovered.
The take home message to New Yorkers (which also applies to anyone in any urban area), keep your iDevice out of sight from the criminal element.
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