Transit Police Chief Paul MacMillan attributed the increase partly to near-record crowding on the T. “When you have an increase in ridership, you have an increase in opportunities for these things to occur,’’ MacMillan said, adding that ridership growth has brought passengers closer together and made it easier for thieves, especially with more riders flashing attractive smartphones.
Final 2011 ridership statistics are not expected until next week, but through November, the T was on pace to challenge a modern record and exceed 385 million passenger-trips for the year.
But pickpocketing, smartphone stealing, and other theft appeared to grow much faster than ridership, despite a campaign that includes recorded announcements, posters, and uniformed as well as undercover Transit Police officers reminding riders to be cautious, especially while waiting on platforms or riding near subway car doors.
Thieves were particularly intent on taking iPhones, which are roughly 30 percent of the smartphone market but accounted for about 60 percent of smartphone thefts on the T.
“What we see is a lot of ‘grab and runs’ where they take the phone out of [victims’] hands and run as soon as the doors close,’’ MacMillan said, with most phones never recovered.
Walter Flores of Dorchester said he learned firsthand to conceal his phone after watching other riders have theirs stolen.
“I just keep it in my pocket,” said Flores, a 20-year-old Roxbury Community College student riding the Red Line yesterday.
Britney Hickson, a freshman at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School, said she sometimes uses her phone and her iPod on the T but always puts them away if she sees someone staring at them.
