Thefts of mp3 players, smart phones and other electronic devices on the Metro transit system surged during the first six months of the year, compared with the same period in 2009.
Metro Transit Police recorded 1,074 assaults, thefts or other criminal offenses during the first six months of 2010, a 24 percent jump from the same period last year, and nearly double the number of crimes reported during the first half of 2006, according to a report submitted to the Metro Board’s safety committee.
The transit system traditionally has more crime in the second half of the year. The number of crimes registered for the first half of the year was a five-year high.
Metro spokeswoman Cathy Asato said thefts of electronic devices accounted for much of this year’s crime surge. Through June there were 961 reported cases of larceny or robbery, up from 721 cases during the same period in 2009.
“A large majority of the [thefts] are iPhones being snatched right out of a person’s hands,” she said.
Smart phones and mp3 players have been around for years, but Metro Police Capt. Brian Heanue said the devices have grown more expensive, and more riders are carrying them now than in the past.
“It looks like Best Buy down there on the platform,” Heanue said. “These smart phones and mp3 players are several-hundred dollars worth of equipment, and it makes for a very inviting target.”
The number of aggravated assaults, which accounts for just 5 percent of all Metro crime, also increased during the first half of the year to its highest level since 2006.
Heanue said many of the assault crimes were youth related, and blamed the popularity of Gallery Place among young people as a significant factor.
“You have the same number of kids riding trains, but because they’re getting concentrated in one location you’re having more interactions and sometimes that leads to inappropriate behavior,” he said.
In response to the spike in device thefts, Metro security officials have started a public awareness campaign composed of station billboards, educational videos and other materials warning people to keep their property secure.
Heanue said the Metro Transit Police Department also increased the number of officers posted at or near Metro stations, and has stationed more plainclothes police officers on Metro trains.
Those measures may be working.
Despite 2010’s dismal start, crime rates fell systemwide in June, the last month for which data is available. The number of June robberies was down 20 percent compared with the same period the previous year.
