From MPD:

“I have noted an increase in a tactic used by suspects looking to rob individuals of the smart phones that I wanted to make the community aware of. There have been multiple incidents citywide where a suspect approaches a victim and asks the victim for the time. When the victim takes their phone out to check the time, the suspect snatches the phone. As a preventive measure, I would like to suggest that individuals do not display their smart phones when responding to an inquiry for the time of day. You could look at your watch if you wear one, give an estimate of the time or simply state that you don’t know the time.

The emergence of this tactic is most likely the result of the community taking the preventive action of not displaying their smart phones as they walk down the street. Now that robbers are adjusting to the use of this new tactic, we ask the community to also adjust as indicated above.”