Report links rise in thefts to popularity of iPods, portable media devices

As iPods increase in popularity, they have become an increasingly frequent target for theft.

A recent report issued by the Urban Institute, an economic policy research center based in Washington, D.C., goes a step further, posing a theory that an increase in the use of iPods and other electronic media devices may explain the national spike in violent crime.

Over the past three years, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has reported a steady increase in violent crime, but a fall in property crimes, such as burglary and theft, according Aaron Chalfin and John Roman, authors of the Urban Institute report.

Crimes such as murder and rape increased marginally from 2004 to 2006, with murder dropping by 1.1 percent and rape by 6.1 percent in 2007, according to the FBI.

Robbery crimes shot up nearly 10 percent from 2005 to 2006, while nonviolent crimes such as motor vehicle theft, burglary and larceny dropped steadily from 2004 to last year.

"Robbery is the only crime that is up substantially," Chalfin said.

"The question for us was, what would cause robbery to rise but nothing else?" he said.

Chalfin said he and Roman considered the possibility that people may be carrying something new on their person that was enticing more potential robbers to commit crimes.

The explosion in the sales of iPods and other portable media devices is more than coincidental, the Urban Institute report said.

They argue that the iPod may actually be a criminogenic, or crime-causing, device.

In Missouri, there were 1,839 more burglaries reported in 2006 than in 2005, while other property crimes either dropped or stayed the same. There were, however, 280 more robberies reported to authorities in 2006 than in 2005, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

In their report, Roman and Chalfin point out that although hard data does not exist providing a causal link between the robbery spike and iPod sales, anecdotal data backs up their hypothesis.

During the first three months of 2005 in New York City, removing iPod-related crimes from the list of major felonies that took place on the subway caused an overall 18.3 percent increase of subway robberies to drop by 3 percent.

In San Francisco, the number of iPod-related robberies on public transportation jumped from four in 2004 to 193 in 2006.

Not always violent crimes

Those numbers may explain an increase in cities with major public transportation systems, but in Cape Girardeau, no iPod related robberies have been reported to police, said Cpl. Jason Selzer, spokesman for the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

What has increased in Cape Girardeau, though, is the number of iPod related thefts that are not considered violent crimes, he said.

IPods are a popular item targeted in thefts from motor vehicles, shoplifting crimes and burglaries, he said.

There were 35 iPods reported stolen in 2007 and only four in 2006, he said.

The size of the media devices make them a convenient item because they are easy to carry, run with and lack any sort of anti-theft protection, Chalfin said.

"They're hot-ticket items, especially among teens, who are least likely to be able to afford them," he said.

The same argument could be made with regard to an expensive handbag or watch, but there hasn't been a sudden influx of sales with those types of items, making the iPod and similar devices the suspected culprit, Chalfin said.

Some companies — including Apple, which makes iPods — have considered protecting these types of devices with passcodes or tracking systems to serve as a deterrent for theft, he said.

Targets for theft

There is a historical pattern in a popular consumer product being targeted for theft as sales increase and it gains popularity, said John E. Wade, chair of criminal justice and sociology at Southeast Missouri State University.

When car stereos improved and the price went up, they were a huge enticement for thieves, as were eight-track tape players back in the day, he said.

The more marketable a product, the more it becomes a target for theft.

"Any product that's in demand, is in demand to be stolen," Wade said.

There are, of course, other explanations for the spike in violent crime, such as illegal immigration, an increase in methamphetamine production or the number of inmates released each year from prison, but none of those explain the reason why robbery should spike so high above other crimes, Chalfin said.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

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