In an effort that is fully supported and encouraged by CCOP, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon and New York Attorney General A.G. Schneiderman will convene a bi-coastal summit with industry leaders, to address the “Apple Picking” epidemic that has swept the entire nation.
Chiefs of Police and District Attorney officials throughout the US have been sounding the alarm with regard to increasing smart phone thefts, many of which are violent and even deadly, for well over a year. In many European countries, service providers have figured out a way to essentially make a stolen smart phone a useless hunk of plastic, which has significantly reduced such thefts, however US providers have seemed reluctant to follow their European counterparts.
San Francisco in general, and our Castro neighborhood, has witnessed the rise in this type of violent theft and we are working with law enforcement and community groups to try to make smart phone users more aware of their surroundings when using such devices. A stolen smart phone can be “sold on” by the thief within hours for $200.00 or more, making it a very lucrative and easily acquired commodity for thieves. CCOP and the Stop The Violence project created a Smart Phone Smartz postcard which we will be distributing in the Castro neighborhood throughout Pride month and after – but the most effective resolution will be following the European model. Making the phones useless once they are stolen will also make them worthless to thieves.
Castro Community On Patrol, Smart Phone Safety postcard
Read the full article on the Summit at the District Attorneys page HERE, and please show your support for this bi-coastal effort.