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Comment by jacquesc | Hacker News Reader

I wonder if the Union square Apple store has this issue, or if PR keeps it hush.

I'd imagine it would be really bad for business if customers found out, and they print money at that location

I know an employee at the Emeryville Apple Store advised me to disguise my Macbook Pro purchase in my backpack. I imagine all high-end electronic retailers deal with this (e.g. Best Buy in Emeryville pays armed, off-duty cops to stand at the door.)

I think apple products can be locked remotely if they are known to be stolen.

>I think apple products can be locked remotely if they are known to be stolen.

Doesn't really matter. They can still be flipped for a few hundred bucks for the components.

Yes, Apple can remotely disable phones stolen from Apple stores.

see https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/06/02/apples-software-tr... and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8380857/Apple-Store...

For recent iPhones (11+), batteries and screens are tied to the original iPhone. You can't swap out a battery/screen from a spare iPhone 11 to a non-functioning iPhone 11 and resurrect the dead iPhone.

see https://www.ifixit.com/News/32343/apple-is-locking-batteries... and https://www.ifixit.com/News/33147/apple-is-discouraging-scre....

For iPhone 12, Apple expanded the locked-to-device components to the camera module. see https://www.ifixit.com/News/45921/is-this-the-end-of-the-rep...

The iPhone 12 behaviour is sneaky - it looks like the transplanted component works, but it slowly malfunctions.

There is almost always a cop there. I walk by pretty frequently and I can't recall seeing it open without a cop. Could be wrong - not exactly casing the joint on my lunch walks.

Sounds like a protection racket. You have the choice of paying for a cop to protect your property or getting robbed.

It would only be a protection racket if the cops were conspiring with those who commit the robberies. Lots of businesses pay for security for all kinds of obvious reasons; just because the cost of security is deemed to be lower than the cost of not having it doesn't mean that anyone is running a "racket".

But the DA and police chief choose not to pursue property crimes or even assaults... the officers themselves are probably not conspiring, but it's a culture of "leave the criminals be" which leads to needing this extra protection, and it's all coming from the same organization.

That's a fair rebuttal, fine.

They are among several SF businesses that hire off-duty cops under a program called “10-B”. They pay the officer’s overtime wage ($100/hr) plus a 14.7% admin fee to the city. Details here: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/philmatier/article/Busin...

Serious question: Are the off-duty police allowed to do anything if a "small" crime happens? Or is this for security theatre only? I mean, if I steal a 4TB SSD, it's unlikely there's going to be a prosecution right? So are they going to risk the career damage of brutalizing me when I resist, or knocking out some teeth tackling me if I decide to run?

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