This might seem a little strange, that an entirely blameless and entirely legal corporation in California is responsible in some manner for a rise in the crime rate in New York City. But that is what seems to be being said here:
Last year the number of Apple products stolen in New York was 13,233 compared with just 86 ten years ago, Commissioner Ray Kelly said in a speech.
And the number is set to increase again this year, with 11,447 Apple products stolen in the city in the first nine months of this year – a 40 per cent increase on the same period last year.
Overall crime in New York City is up by 4 per cent this year compared with last, something Mr Kelly says is down purely to theft of Apple gadgets.
"In the absence of the Apple thefts, we would be experiencing a decline," he told the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Clearly, it's not actually the company that is responsible for the rising crime rate. It's that the company's products are so desirable that many people carry them on the street and some others desire the shiny gew gaws sufficiently to try and steal them.
As to the low rate of such thefts a decade ago: the iPod wasn't even a year old then so thefts would more likely be of things like an iMac. Not something normally seen on the street and something not normally thought of as likely to be subject to a street robbery.
However, while it is possible to mock the story as just an excuse being given, there is a greater truth behind it. I've certainly seen police posters in parts of London warning that the theft of personal stereos and mobile phones is a growing source of crime. And it's also true that exactly these sorts of consumer electronics popularised by Apple, the iPods, iPhones and iPads, that are by far the most valuable thing that we are likely to carry around on us on the streets. And by far the most valuable thing that could be stolen from us on them. Even to the point that the value of what we do carry around with us has risen strongly in this past decade as we adopt smartphones and personal stereos.
So Commissioner Kelly's point is both amusing and also true. Apple has changed the way we do certain things and this has, however indirectly, led to an increase in NYC's crime rate.
