US cities suffering cellphone theft epidemic, Canada gears up to fight same issue

TORONTO – Law enforcement agencies across the U.S. are looking for ways to combat the growing problem of cellphone theft in what is being described as a “nationwide epidemic.”

U.S. officials are calling for more action from mobile phone makers, to create smartphone “kill-switches,” as the highly-anticipated nationwide stolen phone database comes under fire for a lack of results.

The U.S. database blacklists the International Mobile Station Equipment Identity (IMEI) number of a stolen or lost cellphone – preventing it from being reactivated on another network and theoretically discouraging thefts from taking it in the first place.

Currently all four major wireless carriers in the U.S. contribute to the database, but recent reports have pointed out flaws in the system – one of which includes the fact that the database has no effect on cellphones taken overseas.

But the Canadian Wireless Association (CWA) will soon introduce its own national stolen phone database, which will incorporate both Canadian and American IMEI numbers and hopefully crack down on stolen phones crossing North American borders.

“This will be especially important because of our proximity to the U.S. border,” said Marc Choma, spokesperson for the CWA.

All Canadian wireless providers, including new entrants, have agreed to utilize the database – which will be put in place on Sept. 30, 2013.

The hope is that by sharing the database, the U.S. telecoms can help crack down on stolen cellphones crossing over borders to be used in the U.S. and vice versa.

But the database still doesn’t cover phones shipped overseas – where most stolen phones end up, according to a report by the New York Times.

“As you might expect, with more than 6 billion cellphone subscribers around the world, uploading and downloading a database on a daily basis of phones reported lost or stolen from every country in the world would be insurmountable,” said Choma.

“That said, if more countries undertook initiatives like Canada is doing, it would certainly help in reducing cell phone theft on a global level.”

Cellphone theft a growing issue in Canadian cities

Though the total number of stolen phones in Canada has decreased in the past two years, according to data from the CWA, local law enforcement are still concerned about the volume of incidents that revolve around cellphone thefts.

According to the CWA’s data, the total number of stolen phones in Canada decreased to 69,210 in 2012 from 102,288 in 2010.

But Toronto police Staff Sergeant Kin Scanlan said she has concerns surrounding reports that suggest cellphone robberies are on the decline, due to a steady increase of cellphone theft in Toronto.

“I’ve noticed over the last two years an increase in cellphone robberies,” said Scanlan. “There is always violence involved, sometimes it might be a push or shove – but quite often there are knives and guns involved.”

Scanlan, a uniformed staff sergeant at 23 Division, noted that thieves are targeting people directly for their smartphones.

“Over the last couple of years it’s the number one item that thieves are going for. Sometimes it’s a bit of a giveaway because you will see young people with their headphones on,” said Scanlan, who said that according to her observations iPhone and Samsung Galaxy’s are the most sought after phones.

Scanlan noted that youth are commonly targeted in their schools.

According to Scanlan, there have been instances of community officers finding lists in which thieves had documented kids within the school, what grade they were in and what type of cellphones they carry with them.