New York City mayor Eric Adams (D.) is handing out Apple AirTag tracking devices to 500 residents so they can track their car if it's stolen, as car thefts skyrocket across the city.
"The aggravated number of grand larceny autos continues to drive up crime in our city," Adams said on Sunday. He announced that 500 AirTags donated by a local nonprofit will be distributed to New Yorkers. He also encouraged citizens to purchase tracking devices for their cars. Car thefts are up 13 percent from this point last year, with nearly 4,500 cases so far.
Adams said the tracker is a "really amazing piece of ingenuity,"
"It’s easy to monitor," Adams added. "You can see in real-time where the vehicle is located."
Adams's comments come after he urged store-owners in March to ban entry to people wearing face masks in order to crack down on robbers.
Critics of Democratic policies point to the city's bail reform as responsible for a "revolving door of criminals" that's led to an increase in crime. The New York Times reported last month that just 327 thieves, who have collectively been arrested more than 6,000 times, are responsible for a third of the city’s retail crime.
House Republicans held a hearing in the city last month focused on rising crime and Democratic officials' failure to curb it. A bodega owner who was arrested after killing an attacker in self-defense called out Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg for arresting "an innocent man like me" instead of "people committing crime."