San Francisco is the heart of technological innovation. But policy makers in the city have also led the way on a key measure to help cut down the use of cell phone theft that is being replicated around the country.
It started with a local problem. In 2013, two-thirds of all robberies in San Francisco involved the theft of a mobile device, according to Consumer Reports. The San Francisco Police Department looked for technology solutions that could combat the growing problem.
Critics of the wireless industry, including many in law enforcement, berated cell phone makers for not working to find a solution to the problem. “Wireless carriers and smartphone creators had little incentive to search for a resolution; after all, theft was a part of the business model,” the site PoliceOne.com reports.
“According to a 2012 report by the mobile security firm Lookout, the smartphone industry makes about $30 billion a year just from replacing lost or stolen devices, plus another $7.8 billion from selling mobile phone insurance. This doesn’t include what thieves are paying for new plans for their freshly stolen devices.”
The move for a so-called cell phone kill switch, which would allow users to shut off a stolen phone, began in San Francisco with local law enforcement officials.
Their success led San Francisco Sen. Mark Leno to take up the cause in Sacramento.
The story is just one in the long list of policy initiatives that begins at the local level and takes hold across the state and sometimes around the country.
Read more about how San Francisco’s push for the kill switch changed the wireless industry forever here.