Vol. 155, Issue 3, Feb. 20- March 5, 2013
City College
of
San Francisco |
since
1935 | TheGuardsman.com | @SfBreakingNews
iPhone and iPad users targeted by thieves Police use decoys to catch robbers near BART station By Alex Lamp
THE GUARDSMAN / ALAMP@THEGUARDSMAN.COM / @SFBREAKINGNEWS
Theft-related crimes have decreased in the neighborhood over the past few years but the newest iPhones and iPads are proving irresistible for would-be thieves. In December, the Ingleside Police Station began a Robbery Abatement Team decoy operation, in which undercover teams of officers posed as possible theft victims but “there were no takers,” Capt.Tim Falvey said. City College’s 2012 Annual Security Report and Crime Statistics showed 15 thefts in 2011, which is down from the 28 thefts in 2009 and 18 in 2010. However, in January a group of three thieves were brought into custody after plain-clothed officers used a tracking-enabled iPad to zero in on the GPS system of a stolen iPhone.
Drivers pull up to a pedestrian, ask for directions, then grab the victim’s phone before driving off “This system has proved valuable after the spike in robberies in the last half of January,” Falvey said. Cell phone thefts have been attributed to occasions where opportunist thieves pickpocket their targets at vulnerable times. The total amount of theft related crimes in the neighborhood has fallen to 3,017 in 2012, since it peaked at 3,229 in 2010,
and include robbery, burglary, auto theft, burglary theft from vehicles and personal theft. A major hot spot for theft in the Ingleside neighborhood is Balboa Park and the BART station. This area is a major transit hub with an influx of people coming and going at all hours. “One of the reasons why we have a problem with the area around Balboa [Park] BART is that it is right next to the freeway on-ramps,” Falvey said.. “You can commit the robbery if you are in a car.” Drivers pull up to a pedestrian, ask for directions and then grab the victim’s phone before driving off down Ocean Avenue or onto Interstate 280, Falvey said. There have been fewer reports of theft at Ocean campus this semester, but it still remains the only City College campus with a steady trend of theft crimes. “There is less theft this and last year,” City College police Officer Erica McGlaston said. “2010 was definitely worse and there were constant reports then.” McGlaston said that the iPhone 5 has been a major reason, since its late September 2012 release, for the recent increase in theft in the Ingleside neighborhood and that iPads, iPhones and mobile devices are the most commonly stolen items. The iPhone’s GPS tracking technology is helping to reduce the number of stolen phone though, McGlaston said. In October of last year, a woman was choked and robbed of her cell phone on the Ocean Avenue pedestrian bridge and there have been a few other assaults on that bridge reported to police since then. If you are a victim or witness of a robbery in progress, call 911. This story was produced in collaboration with The Ingleside Light.
NEWS: Three other colleges removed from accreditation sanctions Pg. 2 NEWS: Thousands dance for global protest on Valentine’s Day Pg. 5
INSIDE:
Q&A: Exclusive interview with Interim Chancellor Thelma Scott-Skillman Pgs. 6-7 IN MEMORY OF: Ernesto “Xe” Gonzales Acosta, 1989-2013 Pg. 8
OPINION: Struggle and resistance is part of the African American Intellectual Tradition Pg. 13 SPORTS: Track and Field hits the ground running Pg. 15