The New York Police Department is making good on a promise made last year to dole out iPhone handsets to its officers, replacing around 36,000 Windows Phones as part of a new hardware upgrade strategy, reports the New York Daily News.

The NYPD has been rolling out hundreds of the phones since Christmas to Manhattan cops, who can choose between iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models. The platform switch comes at no cost to the police department because the handsets are filed as upgrades under the agency's contract with AT&T.

iphones5n 4 web


"We've been giving out about 600 phones a day," said NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Information and Technology Jessica Tisch. "We're seeing a lot of excitement."

Police in the Bronx and Staten Island have already received their new phones, with officers in the Queens and Brooklyn boroughs next in line to make the switch to iOS.

Armed with Apple's smartphones, the NYPD has seen its response times to critical crimes in progress drop by 14 percent, according to Tisch. The iPhones also allow cops to get videos and surveillance pictures of wanted suspects within minutes of a crime.

"I truly feel like it's the ultimate tool to have as a patrol cop," said Police Officer Christopher Clampitt. "We get to the location a lot quicker," he said. "By the time the dispatcher puts out the job (on the radio) we're already there."

Before the rollout, NYPD's smartphones of choice were Nokia's Lumia 830 and Lumia 640 XL, released in October 2014 and March 2015 respectively. The discontinued devices run Windows Phone 8.1, which Microsoft ended support for in July 2017 to focus on its newer Windows 10 Mobile platform and cloud-based services.

In October 2014, New York City officials announced plans to roll out handheld devices to every NYPD officer for the first time ever, along with tablets for every patrol car. The $160 million initiative was part of a plan to bring the department into the 21st century.

Related Forum: iPhone

Top Rated Comments

dannyyankou Avatar
94 months ago
In a few years they will realize how horrible the iPhone is and switch to android.
Interesting that you joined 21 minutes ago and this is your first post
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Secondempire Avatar
94 months ago
Total Windows Phone usage now down from around 36,002 to around 2.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TComm Avatar
94 months ago
The NYPD made the right decision. Apple needs to focus more on business corporations.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
maflynn Avatar
94 months ago
I don’t understand how they bought a windows phone in the first place. Who thought that was a good idea
Usually high level executives that are out of touch with actual usage makes these decisions. What possibly factored in, is that they probably have a lot invested in MS technologies, so the customer rep probably offered them a huge deal to use the phones
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kycophpd Avatar
94 months ago
How is a phone altering the response time? This sounds more like a process change having an effect and someone piggybacking on that to justify their technology changes. Additionally, I'm quite confident their former phones had cameras.

It's a good choice to abandon the MS phone though. These devices need to be in support.
I am assuming they have their CAD system on this new phone which allows the officers to actually see the calls before they are sent by radio. We have this on our iPhones and it was not available for Windows phone thru our vendor. It definitely speeds response time especially in a very busy place like that.

Yes their former phones had cameras. There is a program on iOS they are using that streams cameras to their phones from events and from dispatch that allows them to see what is going on prior to their arrival.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
5105973 Avatar
94 months ago


Image via New York Daily News ('http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/nypd-cops-switch-iphones-new-tool-fighting-crime-article-1.3799060')

In a few years they will realize how horrible the iPhone is and switch to android.
I love Android. My Pixel 2 is amazing. I can’t wait to see what the Pixel 3 will bring. I’m also always keenly interested in what Samsung, HTC and LG and Huawei and Xiaomi are doing. At some point in a few short years I can see myself going exclusively to Android if the things I want to happen at Apple fail to materialize.

But for the police...really? No...not there yet. Quality control has been horrible on the 2017 Pixel 2 XL variant. I have lost count of how many people I’ve seen, and that includes my husband and myself, who have had to go through Google’s RMA process to get a non defective phone. Some people have endured this three or more times! That’s not very encouraging.

The Pixel 2 fares much better in terms of QC, but is probably too small for a lot of these guys. That would leave you with major players LG and Samsung. Politically, there might be some issues going with foreign manufacturers right now. That aside, LG customer service is not well established and proven in the US nor is quality. HTC is struggling.

The Chinese manufacturers are butting up against security concerns and protectionist policies, as seen in the recent breakup of the deal between AT&T and Huawei over security concerns. Lack of official carrier support hurts Huawei, Xiaomi and HTC since a lot of customers rely on the carriers for customer support when things go wrong on these imports.

Samsung would be the best bet, but they can lag and and be incredibly fragile. The Active versions of the Samsungs would suit them but I think those are AT&T exclusives. I don’t think the police would even be getting the latest flagships. Every Samsung my husband and I have used has run into very inconveniently timed hiccups. That’s not a big problem for us, but for a police officer it could be dangerous.

I realize iOS 11 has some issues, but Apple is committed to fixing them and I have not run into any that stop me in my tracks except very, very rarely.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday April 15, 2025 7:37 am PDT by
The first iOS 19 beta is less than two months away, and there are already a handful of new features that are expected with the update. Apple should release the first iOS 19 beta to developers immediately following the WWDC 2025 keynote, which is scheduled for Monday, June 9. Following beta testing, the update should be released to the general public in September. Below, we recap the key...
tvOS 18 Thumb 1

Apple Releases tvOS 18.4.1

Wednesday April 16, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released tvOS 18.4.1, a minor update to the tvOS 18 operating system that came out last September. tvOS 18.4.1 comes two weeks after Apple released tvOS 18.4, and it is available for the Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD models. tvOS 18.4.1 can be downloaded using the Settings app on the ‌Apple TV‌. Open up Settings and go to System > Software Update to get the new software....
iPhone Security Feature 25

Five iPhone Security Features You Should Be Using

Wednesday April 16, 2025 4:15 pm PDT by
Apple has quite a few security features that it's added to iPhones, iPads, and Macs over the years. Now more than ever, it's important to make sure you're taking advantage of the built-in security tools that are available to keep yourself and your data safe, so we've rounded up a list of the most important options. If you don't already have these enabled, you might want to consider turning...
vision air cable

Images of Apple 'Vision Air' Power Cable Emerge Online

Thursday April 17, 2025 5:55 am PDT by
More images of a redesigned power cable allegedly for a future Apple "Vision Air" headset were today shared online by the prototype collector and leaker known as "Kosutami." Yesterday, the leaker explained that the Apple "Vision Air" will feature a thinner design and switch the battery enclosure and several of its internal structures to titanium to reduce the device's overall weight. Most of ...