Metro Reports Increase in Cell Phone and Bike Thefts

Overall, crime is up on Metro this year, which authorities attribute to a general upward trend in the number of thefts of cell phones and other portable electronic devices. There were 1,432 crimes reported on trains and buses and at stations through August, a 9.8 percent increase over the 1,304 incidents reported through the same point last year.

Riders who gaze over their iPhones, iPads, and other devices make easy targets for thieves, Metro Transit Police Chief Ron Pavlik said earlier this year, when Metro introduced public service advisories warning customers about rising crime in the system. Metro spokesman Dan Stessel tells Washingtonian that recent security features introduced by Apple in new releases of its iOS operating system are a bit of a deterrent.

Rounding out the top five locations for crime incidents were Orange Line stations Deanwood and Minnesota Avenue, in Northeast; Gallery Place, in Northwest; and Red Line station Rhode Island Avenue, also in Northeast. Stessel says that it’s not worth fixating on the list of stations with the most crimes, though. “Brookland, there’s one crime every five days,” he says. “It’s not like there’s a crime wave on Metro property.”