Crime by kids soars - blame the iPhone

This is so not the typical article I chose to post HOWEVER... It is relevent ... Don't miss my comments aka three cents.. below..

BY CAITLIN MILLAT and ALISON GENDAR DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Friday, July 25th 2008, 9:58 PM

Muggers are getting younger - and the iPhone is to blame.
Kids ages 11 to 19 make up a growing proportion of the crooks arrested this year for theft, fueled in part by a lust for the snazzy new phones, police said.

"The explosive popularity of these devices has also made them inviting targets for thefts. Teens are commonly the culprits as well as the victims," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

Juveniles accounted for 29% of the 7,340 robbery arrests and 27% of the 4,566 grand larceny busts this year, an 8% jump in each category compared to this time last year, police said.

Electronics - mostly iPhones, iPods and Sidekicks - were the stolen booty in 20% of the robbery arrests and 12% of the grand larceny arrests.

"A kid taking out an iPhone and using it is like waving around $300," a cop source said. Kids agree.

"My friend was walking home from school and some guys just stopped him and grabbed his iPhone," said LaGuardia High School student Maribel Garcia, 16. "It's scary, thinking we could all be attacked like that."

In some cases, young thieves simply wanted their own iPhone. Older, more adept crooks could be trolling for personal data stored in iPhones - a shortcut to identity theft, other experts said.
A spokeswoman for Apple, the maker of the iPod and iPhone, declined to comment but the company has acknowledged in a patent application that theft of the devices is a serious problem.




"Everybody at school locks theirs up, because iPhones are so valuable," said George Itzhak, 16, a junior at Baccalaureate School for Global Education in Astoria.

While citywide crime is down 4% so far this year, and down 29% since 2001, juveniles make up a growing slice of the criminal population. Young people ages 11-19 were 24% of the 7,869 assault arrests and 31% of the 739 car theft arrests so far this year, police said.

"People are just acting crazy," said Stephanie Phillips, 18, a midtown supermarket cashier who hides her Sidekick when walking around. "They will slice you for your phone in a second."

agendar@nydailynews.com

Original Article-

Crime by kids soars - blame the iPhone

Time for my three cents..

Hold the presses.. blame the IPhone?

How about we take that thought and pull it apart ...

I grew up in a poor home.. my family couldn't afford to by me a third of what I "wanted" or sign me up for any of the classes I wanted..

Did I go out and steal it? Hell no!

Why not? Because Dad wore a belt that's why.. and dad had no problem taking that belt off his pants and whacking it across my ass!

Am I lying? Nope!!

Am I saying Dad used that belt more than once?

Nope.. once was more than enough to keep me in line!

Kids these days know.. child "protective" services is lying in wait for Mom or Dad to even punish their child today...

Kids know they don't have to respect anything or anyone.. they know their parents are at a loss to keep them in line.. they know that all Mom or Dad gets to do today is "talk" to them.. Hell .. parents aren't even allowed to yell at their kids..

So...you tell me.. be honest.. if you grew up knowing you could do whatever you wanted .. and your parent's had no power.. how many IPhones would you have stolen?