Apple Inc. (AAPL) Is Target of 14% of NYC Crime in 2012

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) products, as this past weekend has demonstrated, are a high-demand commodity. But so much so that people are willing to steal to get their hands on them? At least in New York City, it appears so.

As one commenter under a blog post said, this could be called “Apple picking” as the crime of the year in the Big Apple. Interesting, huh?

Anyway, Bloomberg is reporting that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) devices have been stolen at a much more increasing rate than a year ago, and have accounted for nearly one of about every seven major crimes in the city in 2012, based on statistics released by NYPD through Sunday. The department announced that Apple devices were the target of nearly 40 percent more crimes in 2012 than in 2011 and about 14 percent of all crimes in the City during the year so far.

What is most interesting about this report is that the Apple device crimes rose 40 percent from a year ago (to more than 11,000), the amount of overall crimes rose just 4 percent over a year ago (to nearly 80,000). These numbers, however, do not include a BMW driving through the window of an Apple Store in order to steal iPhones. That might show up in a LAPD report.

In the wake of the crime numbers surrounding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) devices, NYPD had stationed officers and each of the 21 Apple Stores in the city to protect customers and help them register their phones in case of theft. The department reported earlier this year that it used technology to help track down stolen iPhones and catch the criminals. Department spokesman Paul Browne said in an e-mail, “Our emphasis on prevention and investigation of Apple thefts stems from the fact that they are a magnet for crime, including robberies, driving the spike we’ve experienced this year.”

A magnet for customers and a magnet for crime? Maybe that is something that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) investors – like hedge-fund manager David Tepper of Appaloosa Management LP – may not want to hear.