“The [New York] City Council is looking to tighten regulations on pawn shops to stem the surging number of thefts of iPhones and other Apple products,” Erin Durkin reports for The New York Daily News.
“The Council held a hearing Monday on a bill that would require second hand dealers and pawn brokers to keep an electronic record – which cops could access online – including a picture of each item they buy,” Durkin reports. “Cops backed the measure, saying it would make it easier for them to search for stolen smart phones and iPods, as well as other items like jewelry and cars.”
Durkin reports, “There were 16,000 thefts of Apple devices alone in 2012, cops say – and without the surge in those thefts, overall crime would have dropped in the city instead of experiencing a small uptick.”
MacDailyNews Take: Thieves are thieves. They would’ve just stolen something else.
“John Bilich, NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Operations, said cops have already solved cases through shops that voluntarily upload information through software called Leads Online. ‘It is time to update the law to require electronic recordkeeping,’ he said,” Durkin reports. “But pawn shop owners opposed the measure, calling it an invasion of customers’ privacy.”
Read more in the full article here.
What’s the percentage of stuff that goes to the pawn shop that you might find on a commuter or tourist in NYC, like a digital camera or iPhone that is NOT stolen, 5%? 1%
An old auto mechanic of mine told me “locks keep honest people honest”.
It is true there is an element of society that does nothing but prey on the rest, but not all people who commit crimes fall into that category. There’s a group of people who will only commit crimes given the opportunity and do not necessarily seek it out. Those people will be more influenced by bills like this.
Of course pawn shops are against it. More work for them and less money. They don’t care what’s stolen as long as they make money
This is true, but this is also why it should not be up to them. There’s no reason society should allow businesses to profit off of criminal activity.
What you are describing is a fence, not a pawn shop. Pawn shops have to keep records and can lose their license for accepting stolen merchandise.
twimoon.. are you talking about enron or some of the big banks? Maybe some financial firms on wall street?
Solution:
Carry one of those free Android phones in your other pocket, give that one to the thief.
Wait, that is cruel to thieves.
Or just threaten them with one of those,
“Git back or else, I’ll let you have this Samsung!!” and see them run!
Actually no, you might be charged with ‘assault with worthless weapon’
Why not just make it a requirement for pawn shops to take a photo of every douche bag who pawns something along with the item they’re pawning?!?
Actually they already do through video.
Just the douche bags?
In other news, Samsung proposed a bill that would ban the import and sale of Apple iPhones and other portable devices as a way to reduce the surge of stolen Apple products, saying Samsung’s devices are far less likely to be stolen.
BWAHAHAHA! Joke of the day award √
“There were 16,000 thefts of Apple devices alone in 2012, cops say – and without the surge in those thefts, overall crime would have dropped in the city instead of experiencing a small uptick.”
What’s that expressions… ‘Give the people what they want’… to steal!
So they are saying that to reduce crime, Apple should stop selling envious products that are a hit with the masses?! How about incarcerating the human debris that take the easy way out in procuring top rated products!
Make an example of them and throw the book at them. Send them to Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s desert tent prison where they can wear pink jump suits while serving as customer reps explaining cellular companies phone bills to irate customers.
Or, hit them where it hurts, ban them from ever possessing an Apple product again. (kind of like the way they do it with guns now)
Maybe New Yorkers need to learn how to use their iPhones while on the street. If you are talking on you EarBuds or earphones and the iPhone is in a pocket or purse, it is pretty hard to steal it. Here in Shanghai, I can leave my iPad and iPhone on my desk and walk away without worrying. But in NYC, you’d better be aware of protecting yourself, just as was the case when I lived in London and in Paris. I don’t think in any other city the police would do anything other than fill out a report for statistical and insurance purposes, however. Do the NYPD recover lots of stolen iPhones? what about stolen Samsung or Nokia phones?
If they want to significantly curtail the number of iPhone and iPad related thefts, the best thing to do is to ship all the black people to Liberia.
Where is the report button?
what a moron. disregard this scum.
what an ignorant sod. ignorant this scum.
This site is filled with arrogant, ignorant and self-absorbed little weasels just delighted to be making a buck by trolling the web for stories about Apple. Their comments reveal their immaturity and arrogance. Truly gives the world of Apple a bad name. In short, Losers.