Attorney General Summit to Combat iPhone Theft

By Matthew Hampton

For several years, police in major metropolitan areas across the city have noticed an increase in smartphone thefts — particularly in transit systems.

The phenomenon, known as "Apple-picking" for the manufacturer of the highly sought-after iPhone, has become such an epidemic that Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is teaming up with the San Francisco District Attorney in an attempt to stem the rising tide of theft.

The two men will come together with representatives from companies like Apple, Samsung, Microsoft and Google to try and find 21st Century solutions to the age-old snatch-and-grab.

"Unlike other types of crimes, smartphone theft can be eradicated with a simple technological solution," said San Francisco D.A. George Gascon. "With 1.6 million Americans falling victim to smartphone theft in 2012, this has become a national epidemic."

Schneiderman agreed. 

"It’s time for manufacturers to be as innovative in solving this problem as they have been in designing devices that have reshaped how we live," he said. 

The forum will take place at the attorney general's New York City office starting on June 13, with Gascon and Schneiderman urging the companies to come up with ways to render stolen devices inoperable forever — making their theft pointless.

Already, NYPD officers have recorded dozens of examples of stolen iPhones being relocated thanks to GPS trackers embedded within the devices themselves. 

Hopefully, Schneiderman said, the companies that have created such revolutionary devices will come up with an equally revolutionary method of protecting them.