On average, 39 cellphones are stolen per day in the city of Chicago. They average 14000 per year, yikes! DNAINFO

"Cellphone thefts are treated similarly to other property thefts, with the exception that technology can sometimes assist detectives in locating the devices under certain circumstances." Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi

Well this is an alarming number, keep your cell close to your body at all times if you are in Chicago!

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Check out these scary "stolen cellphone" numbers:

In Chicago between Jan. 1, 2016, and Aug. 15, 2017...22,848 reported cellphone thefts.

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In the "Loop" 1168 cellphones get taken, and special events account for a bunch of missing cellphones as well...During Lollapalooza, add another 200 stolen to the numbers.

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To get even more specific with locations, 38 percent have occurred on a street, sidewalk or alley in Chicago. The Chicago City Council also passed an ordinance that is you are a seller of cellphones, the phones you cell have to be checked against a database to prove they aren't stolen.

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Dennis Roberson is the vice provost at the Illinois Institute of Technology and chairman of the Federal Communications Commission's Technological Advisory Council. He commented that the stolen cellphone with resale is a huge criminal business.

"Organized crime is very much involved in this, there's a criminal world. A chain." - Dennis Roberson

In some situations, these massive amounts of cellphones stolen in Chicago get collected, and shipped overseas...That's crazy. Others make their way to the internet, Ebay to be resold.

The Most Bizarre Items Ever Stolen From Illinois Residents

My mom once told me that "people will steal anything that's not nailed down." Times certainly have changed since then. The thieves now have nail removers.

 

 

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