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ArticleMUSIC AND MAYHEM
iPOD LOYALISTS: THEY'D RATHER FIGHT THAN DITCH
Thefts are so frequent they've reached epidemic proportions, police say. But, as Zosia Bielski and Jane Armstrong discover, so popular are the portable media devices that teenagers won't stop carrying them no matter what the riskBy ZOSIA BIELSKI AND JANE ARMSTRONG
Saturday, November 15, 2008 Page A8
TORONTO, VANCOUVER -- Ashley Roberts had an iPod tucked in her pocket when three teens surrounded her in her Scarborough neighbourhood.
"Let me see your iPod," one girl demanded, snatching the gadget from Ms. Roberts's pocket. "I think I'm going to take this," she gloated, tugging it so hard she pulled the buds from Ms. Roberts's ears.
Ms. Roberts, 17, didn't put up a fight. "I would have gotten put in the hospital," she said quietly this week.
The incident happened two years ago, and the iPod belonged to Ms. Roberts's friend, 17-year-old Christina McPherson. Despite what happened to Ms. Roberts, Ms. McPherson is defiant: Under "no circumstances" would she give up a gadget that holds 6,000 painstakingly acquired songs, even if it would reduce her chances of being mugged.
"I'd rather be stabbed than give up my iPod," she said.
This week, a trial began in Ottawa that has heightened Canadian parents' concerns about sending their children and teens out of the house with expensive electronic devices such as iPods.
A youth is charged in the stabbing death of 22-year-old Michael Oatway, an Ottawa man allegedly killed for his girlfriend's iPod on a city bus.
Police call iPod assaults an epidemic, not unlike the spate of violent swarmings in the 1990s where the prizes were expensive running shoes and jackets. But iPods are more valued because one size fits all.
"They're ubiquitous," Vancouver Police Constable Tim Fanning said. Nearly every young person has one or wants one. Users are easy to spot, sporting the white ear buds, often referred to as "mug me" earphones.
"For a thief, it's like a crow seeing something shiny," Constable Fanning said.
Police and transit authorities have issued guidelines to iPod wearers, urging them to keep their iPods out of sight and to buy different styles of earphones.
At a SkyTrain station in Vancouver, a sign urges iPod wearers to remove their earphones in and around the station. The warning appears to have little effect. On an afternoon this week, throngs of people marched in and out of the station, with white strings dangling from their ears.
Researchers in the United States even argue that iPod usage has sparked an "iCrime" wave there.
A 2007 study by the Urban Institute in Washington has attributed a spike in violent crime south of the border to iPod usage.
"The rise in violent offending and explosion in the sales of iPods and other portable media devices is more than coincidental," the report said.
"We propose that over the past two years, America may have experienced an iCrime wave."
The Urban Institute study said that in 2005 the United States reported its first increase in violent crime in 12 years. That trend continued into 2006.
"At the same time that violent crime rates began to rise, America's streets filled with millions of people visibly wearing, and being distracted by, expensive electronic gear," the study says.
Canada, by contrast, did not experience a similar rise in violent crime, according to Statistics Canada.
But that doesn't mean iPod thefts and muggings aren't common in Canada.
Police blotters are filled with tales of people being swarmed and mugged for their iPods and cellphones. Hot iPods are bought and sold at a deep discount on schoolyards.
Outside Toronto's Central Technical Institute recently, some students boast that their iPods cost them between $10 and $30.
Many are stolen, in some cases from classmates.
Holding an aqua blue Shuffle Mini between her long pink nails outside the school, 16-year-old Desiree Bowen said some of her friends steal iPods and sell them to their friends for $20.
"It's fast money," said Ms. Bowen, who generally keeps her iPod concealed in her pocket and occasionally switches the white ear buds for black ones.
Her friend, Abraham Shah, a towering, ebullient quarterback, whips out his $10 iPod. At that price, it's likely stolen. The seller thoughtfully cleared the previous owner's playlist.
Mr. Shah, 15, says it's the Grade 9 students who typically get mugged, largely because they flash their goods around.
David Anderson, a Grade 9 student, brings his Nokia N95 smartphone to school: Equipped with WiFi, a five megapixel camera and a GPS system, the camera cost Mr. Anderson's older brother nearly $1,000 two years ago.
Asked whether Mr. Oatway's case makes him think twice about carting around his pricey accessory, Mr. Anderson appears unfazed: "I'm not scared. I'm laid-back about it."
"The kids that tend to get robbed are the ones who are flashing all this stuff around. They're just moving targets," said Constable Scott Mills, a Toronto Crime Stoppers community youth officer who has dealt with numerous cases of iPod-related violence in GTA schools.
Constable Mills recommends replacing the recognizable white ear buds with "cheap and non-descript" ones.
"Why attract attention to yourself?" he asked.
For many, love of their gadgets simply outweighs any risks.
Several Facebook groups have sprung up solely devoted to victims of iPod theft.
Many tell tales of iPods being stolen from gym locker rooms, libraries and band rooms and nearly all express great frustration, sometimes even threats.
"I'll get that bitch, even if it kills me," writes Samantha Szabolcs, a 17-year-old from Thornlea Secondary School in Thornhill, Ont., whose 80-gigabyte iPod was stolen from her change room at work.
Melissa Pipes's iPod mini was lifted at a friend's birthday party in Vancouver.
It was a small gathering of about 10 teenaged girls. When Ms. Pipes, 18, got up to leave, she noticed her iPod was missing from her purse.
A friend's digital camera was also gone.
Ms. Pipes scoured the house and yard, but the iPod was gone for good. She was distraught. The iPod, a Christmas present, had her name engraved on the back and contained about 800 songs.
"I was really, really upset," Ms. Pipes said. "I always carried my iPod with me."
Ms. Pipes didn't report the theft; many victims don't. It was the second time in a year that her iPod was stolen.
The previous time the thief, another high-school classmate, returned the item when she noticed it was engraved.
Ken Westin, a software developer in Portland, Ore., who has built an anti-theft device for iPods, said iPod theft is rampant because, unlike cellphones, which are subscription-based and can be cancelled if stolen, few iPods have any kind of theft protection. And most contain a vast library of songs.
"It's like stealing someone's record collection," he said.
Mr. Westin said most of the attention has focused on iPods, but he said the widespread use, and desire for, shiny, expensive electronics makes everyone a target.
"We're becoming a more mobile society," Mr. Westin said. "We're carrying more portable devices. They're smaller. They're more expensive. They have higher data capacities.
"We're carrying a lot more gadgets with us these days that are worth a lot more money."
Despite teens' protestations that the iPod obsession revolves around their love of music, Constable Mills says, it's rooted in perceptions of social class.
"It's a huge status marker and that's all they can think about. ... Kids are showing up at my BMX bike park with an iPhone and they're telling me last week that their mom can't afford groceries.
"[One teen is] showing it to everybody. He doesn't even know how to work the thing and it's a big status symbol.
"He'll be out there showing it to people and next thing you know, it'll be gone because somebody will knock him off for it. And he won't even report it because it's just not cool to report."
Julien Hernandez did report, with few results.
In May, Mr. Hernandez, 18, was having an after-school smoke at West End Alternative School on Bloor Street West near Christie Pits park in Toronto when two men came up behind him. Their faces concealed under black bandanas, the men inquired about the school before drawing a knife and cocking a gun at Mr. Hernandez.
Reaching into his sweater pocket, one man helped himself to the student's cellphone before swiping his iPod out of his hand. Mr. Hernandez, a "movie fiend," lost 88 movies and 2,500 songs: "There goes my life," he said.
Today, Mr. Hernandez carries a small blade and says he would have pulled it "guaranteed," but only to deter the men. He refuses to change the ear buds, but takes more precautions.
"I look behind me a lot more than I used to."
As for Ms. Roberts, she has bought another iPod, the cheaper Shuffle, and keeps it "hidden all the time." Still, she's begging her parents for a Nano this Christmas. So far, they have refused.
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THEFT REPORTS
POLICE BLOTTER, OCT. 22 TO NOV. 2
A 16-year-old male reports that at approximately 2316 hours, he was in the schoolyard when four male suspects wearing bandanas approached him. One of the suspects produced a knife and grabbed the victim's iPod. All the suspects then fled the scene in an unknown direction.
A 17-year-old male reports that at approximately 2045 hours he was on the platform of a subway station when five male suspects approached him. Two of the suspects grabbed the victim's iPod, hat and TTC student pass, while the other suspects grabbed and punched him about the face.
A 15-year-old male and a 16-year-old female report that at approximately 0200 hours, they had exited a subway station when they were approached from behind by two male suspects. One of the suspects grabbed the male victim by the jacket and attempted to remove his iPod. A struggle ensued and the victim made good his escape.
A 13-year-old male reports that between 1230 hours and 1300 hours, he was approached by two male suspects on bicycles. One of the suspects made a demand for cash and indicated that they were in possession of a firearm, however no weapon was seen. This same suspect then removed an iPod from the victim's pocket while the other male suspect stood watch.
Source: The Toronto Police Service
POLICE BLOTTER, NOV. 3-13
A 22-year-old male reports that at approximately 1845 hours he was approached from behind by two male suspects armed with a knife. The suspects made a demand for the victim's iPod, cellular telephone and wallet. The victim complied.
A 25-year-old male reports that at approximately 2330 hours he was approached from behind by four male suspects, two wearing a disguise. The suspects demanded the victim's iPod, cellphone and messenger bag. The suspects fled southbound.
A 16-year-old male reports that at approximately 1850 hours he was approached by two male suspects and two female suspects. The two males then made a demand for the victim's iPod. The victim tried to make good his escape. The suspects then punched and kicked the victim until the victim fell to the ground.
Six males, ages 14 and 15 years, report that at approximately 2000 hours, they were approached by 10 male suspects. Two suspects threatened the victims and demand for them to empty their pockets. The victims complied and the suspects fled the scene with the victims' cell telephones, cash and an iPod.
A 17-year-old male reports that at approximately 1550 hours, he was at a bus stop when he was approached by two male suspects. The suspect removed the victim's iPod and fled the scene in an unknown direction.
Source: Toronto Police Service