Smartphone theft on the rise with no smart solution in sight.

Part 1.  As 2011 came to a close, New York City boasted its lowest crime rate ever, with murders and other violent crimes at lowest levels since good records were kept. However, smartphone theft is on the rise in the Big Apple, with iPhone theft taking the biggest bite.

According to an NYPD study, about 8,000 robberies in New York City over the first 10 months of 2011 involved mostly cell phones, with the iPhone accounting for over 70% of all stolen cell phones, i.e. in NYC alone, there’s at least one iPhone being stolen your every waking hour.

Reports of this alarming trend focus on worthless aspects of the problem, from expressing astonishment that these thefts surpass cash or other similar thefts to providing the basic advice to not flash your iPhone in crowded places, to finally reporting increased NYPD presence in buses and subways.

Indeed, at first glance, this appears to be an old problem with an old solution – petty theft – like getting your wallet stolen when it’s peeking out of your pocket or like getting your purse or jewelry snatched when unattended or in plain view. Certainly, increased police presence in high occurrence areas, albeit a knee jerk reaction, will reduce theft in those areas. Unfortunately, it’s not an economically sustainable solution and moreover not applicable to all scenarios where these thefts occur.

Further, educating people to be more precautious with their belongings additionally reduces such occurrences. However, New Yorkers have always been vigilant, fostered by our history of crime, starting from industrialization through the 80s, and amplified by our more recent misfortunes. Every New Yorker or any other modern urbanite for that matter, habitually keeps purses close to the body, and wallets and jewelry well concealed and “if you see something you say something.” People don’t carry much cash or cards anymore, which are easily and quickly canceled with a simple phone call. Admittedly, over the years, from being more vigilant to carrying fewer valuables, such precautions have reduced thefts on subways and buses and elsewhere.

Yet, despite these long standing measures, smartphone theft is on the rise, and will only continue to grow. Only time will confirm the shortcomings of the present solutions, in part deficient due to the mischaracterization of the problem as requiring the same old solution. Thus, until this new problem will be recognized as such, present attempts at solutions and precautions will fall short and smartphone theft will only increase.

The key to understanding the problem is examining the differences between smartphones and other personal valuables. Specifically, the benefit of stealing a smartphone versus stealing most other personal valuables will usually outweigh the cost. Understanding the differences is even more significant when crafting an adequate solution, if the word smartphone is any indication.

First, the relevant distinction is best illustrated by the cost/benefit analysis of stealing any small personal item. Generally, precautions taken to safe keep small personal items make it more difficult for a thief; thereby the benefit of pursuing the theft must be significantly higher. The cost includes factors such as the difficulty in parting the item from possession, the time it takes to take possession, the likelihood of getting caught. The benefit is simply the value of the item, i.e. money acquired from fencing the item. Notably, the benefit aspect in petty thievery is a gamble, as the value is usually not easily ascertainable, i.e. the amount of cash in the wallet, or authenticity of the jewelry may not be easily or definitively gleaned.

Conversely, for smartphones, the cost/benefit analysis usually comes up all benefits. The cost remains the same or, in some instances the cost of theft is reduced as smartphones are ubiquitous parts of our daily lives and are hardly ever concealed. Notwithstanding, the benefit is usually significantly higher, thereby usually outweighing the cost. At the very least, the value of the target item is easily ascertainable. An experienced thief or any smartphone techie connoisseur would quickly be able to approximate the value of a smartphone. Finally, a smartphone is easily resold, and not even necessarily on the black market (more on that later), for hundreds of dollars, ranging anywhere from $200 to $800 depending on the phone.

To Be Continued…