Post AzEN1WOS2vyZidNHW4 by toerror@mastodon.gamedev.place
(DIR) More posts by toerror@mastodon.gamedev.place
(DIR) Post #AzEM7XYiWemR7KTy7c by davidho@mastodon.world
2025-10-15T10:25:54Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
People say I’m blaming the victim when I tell people not to look at their screens while they walk, but you wouldn’t count a stack of $100 bills when you walk either. Phone are super expensive and phone snatching is a real thing.https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/world/europe/london-police-phone-theft-china-gang.html?unlocked_article_code=1.tk8.VnLI.SfhLEcZ9M-jZ&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
(DIR) Post #AzEM7ZBOULJQ9ZaN2u by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-10-15T10:34:39Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@davidho This is odd. Phone snatching used to be a huge crime in NYC, but it has fallen off. It's not really a thing anymore. New Yorkers are very inattentive and constantly bumping into each other because we are staring at our phones. My understanding is that in NYC a snatched phone can't be resold anywhere. Pawn shops are monitored. Targeting the middle men is critical.
(DIR) Post #AzEMHMBjelFokPPiLo by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-10-15T10:36:28Z
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@davidho Maybe the London cops should stop hiring ex NYPD to teach them terrorism prevention and instead ask about the task forces that monitor the pawn shops and that track stolen phones. It's possible to be a big chaotic city and NOT have this be a problem.
(DIR) Post #AzEMSXAdAJ8fzfE7LE by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-10-15T10:38:30Z
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@davidho This also makes me think that if NYPD really wanted to they could do something about bike theft. Which is massive in NYC, we are all resigned to the notion that bikes just always get stolen and you can't have a nice one and expect it to last overnight on the street. Car theft also was once big in NYC, but it has not been a big problem since the late 90s.
(DIR) Post #AzEMhpJxxptKd8sxVY by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-10-15T10:41:16Z
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@davidho I want to emphasize that the solution to phone snatching was aggressive tracking of each and every stolen phone. Using the tech that's already in place to find where it went and doing something about it. It was not about chasing people around on the streets. It was about making every single pawn shop decide that buying a phone from some kid just wasn't worth it. Boring stuff.
(DIR) Post #AzEN1WOS2vyZidNHW4 by toerror@mastodon.gamedev.place
2025-10-15T10:44:46Z
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@futurebird @davidho Per the article though, they were being wrapped in foil to prevent tracking and then shipped to China for resale.
(DIR) Post #AzEN593IlnkWUCD4Hw by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-10-15T10:45:28Z
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@toerror @davidho Why isn't that happening in NYC?Or is phone snatching about to come back again?
(DIR) Post #AzENfjXAbpFO3bcwim by toerror@mastodon.gamedev.place
2025-10-15T10:52:05Z
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@futurebird @davidho Although I know nothing about the actual stats, London is a low rise sprawl, so I'd expect the police to be spread more thinly on the street than in a moe buit up area.. Could be one factor.
(DIR) Post #AzENlEe2MqM9zeSkGe by vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de
2025-10-15T10:53:02Z
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@futurebird @davidho NCA ("British Feds") have been busting the resellers. Devices are rarely resold locally but sent to China and stripped for parts which feed the repair aftermarket (as companies like Apple make it difficult to obtain the parts legitimately). Its a more sensitive situation - the street level thugs are quickly nicked and sent to jail due to the sheer amount of CCTV around, but higher up the chain are otherwise inoffensive seeming Asian students from middle class backgrounds who don't stand out as much and even if MetPol did try racially profiling every Asian student, they would get a lot of false leads as others are doing legit import/export work as a side hustle.David does have a point, flash your wealth around anywhere in England and you risk getting robbed..
(DIR) Post #AzENx34FEmGHYuM0kC by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-10-15T10:55:12Z
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@toerror @davidho Maybe?But it's not about cops being physically around ... it's how they respond when someone reports a stolen phone. They go into beast mode. They get the camera footage from the subway or business, they check the pawn shops for the serial number. They put in a lot of time and effort for this crime because they do seem to really want to prevent it. It's mostly basic detective work. Done on a mass scale.
(DIR) Post #AzEOcdj9qEn58LK5Qm by toerror@mastodon.gamedev.place
2025-10-15T11:02:40Z
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@futurebird @davidho Fair. Our plods are mostly preoccupied arresting anyone wearing a keffiyeh at the moment ...
(DIR) Post #AzEPK1nmD0puFeAl60 by Talia@mstdn.social
2025-10-15T11:10:31Z
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@futurebird @davidho totally this. the London Met Police genuinely don't seem to care about phone theft. It is easy to track where these things are going, it seems they just can't be bothered to do the work.
(DIR) Post #AzEQP4mQfAm6tGVsdE by noodlemaz@med-mastodon.com
2025-10-15T11:22:38Z
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@futurebird @toerror @davidho yeah, they don't respond. They're too busy arresting pensioners outside Westminster for holding anti-genocide signs, and supporting their mates texting each other racist and misogynistic shit.
(DIR) Post #AzEcGNXqj2IZvrJSkK by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-10-15T13:34:34Z
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@u0421793 @davidho That is a very obnoxious thing to have to worry about IMNSHO