It appears the New York City residents who are purchasing Apple products aren’t doing the city’s crime rate any favors, as the NYPD says if it hadn’t been for the increase in Apple thefts this year, the crime rate would have dropped!
Had Apple thefts not increased in 2012, “we would be experiencing a slight decline in crime citywide,” NYPD spokesman Paul Browne told The Wall Street Journal. Grand larceny was up 9% this year in NYC, a jump that can largely be attributed to the theft of expensive portable devices such as iPhones. The NYPD reported that between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, a total 11,447 Apple products were stolen in the city, marking a 40% increase over the number of Apple products stolen in 2011.
The increase in the city’s crime rate is the first seen in 20 years.
Apple products are popular targets for thieves, as they are in high demand, have a high resale value, and are easy to get repaired. A quick search on eBay or Craigslist will result in any number of people looking to buy or sell Apple products of all shapes and sizes.
In an attempt to make recovering stolen iPhone’s a bit easier, the NYPD stationed officers at 21 stores on the first day of sale for the iPhone 5 back in September. The officers were there to encourage customers to install tracking software such as Find My iPhone to address the growing theft problem.
