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Death Wish Meets GPS: iPhone Theft Victims Confronting Perps

theodp (442580) writes "Thankfully, no one's gone full-Charles-Bronson yet, but the NY Times reports that victims of smartphone theft are using GPS to take the law into their own hands, paying visits to thieves' homes and demanding the return of their stolen phones. "The emergence of this kind of do-it-yourself justice," writes Ian Lovett, "has stirred worries among law enforcement officials that people are putting themselves in danger, taking disproportionate risks for the sake of an easily replaced item." And while hitting "Find My iPhone" can take you to a thief's doorstep, LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith urges resisting the impulse to do so. "It's just a phone," he said. "it's not worth losing your life over. Let police officers take care of it. We have backup, guns, radio, jackets — all that stuff civilians don't have.""

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  1. Re:frosty piss by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Public sector unions should be outlawed, unionizing is supposed to be about protecting the little guy from the large and powerful

    Because the government is tiny and feeble. Is it physically painful having an IQ as low as yours?