LIU STATEMENT ON SMARTPHONE THEFT
New York City Comptroller John C. Liu made the following statement in response to yesterday's news conference on thwarting smartphone theft:
"We welcome Attorney General Schneiderman's and San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón's common-sense initiative to take a stand against the rapidly escalating problem of cell phone theft. The Attorneys General, with cooperation from the world's largest manufacturers of cell phones, are tackling a growing problem. In the time it takes you to read this statement, more than 200 smartphones will be lost or stolen in this country. In New York City alone cell phone robberies increased 40 percent in the past year.
"The cell phone thefts in New York City too often involve violence. Tragically last year a 26-year-old chef at the Museum of Modern Art was killed for his iPhone. The manufacturers must quickly come up with the technology to make stolen smartphones useless. When that happens, stealing a smartphone will be a waste of time.
"We note that the City pension funds have a substantial investment in the largest manufacturers of cell phones, all of which are taking part in today's conference. We urge these companies to make fighting the theft of cell phones their number-one priority."
A.G. Schneiderman's and D.A. Gascón's announcement is here: www.ag.ny.gov/press-release/ag-schneiderman-da-gasc%C3%B3n-launch-nationwide-%E2%80%9Csecure-our-smartphones%E2%80%9D-initiative
Background
As of June 12, 2013, the NYC Pension Funds held a combined 2,333,996 shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) valued at $1,008,729,731.24; 660,409 shares of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) valued at $575,863,439.82; 19,078,143 shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) valued at $667,735,005.00; and 254,903 shares of Samsung (KOREA SE: 005930) valued at $311,460,657.26.