Didn't they have that whole thing a year or two ago where criminals were snatching phones out of peoples hands? Where the police response was to blame the victims and tell them to just pay more attention to their surroundings next time?
In any case, recovery rate is the other important metric here especially for justifying a surveillance state, and that has been absolutely terrible.
Robbery is theft using force or the immediate threat of force. The article you linked to says that much of the phone theft is done by pickpocketing.