Sen. Charles Schumer and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly have persuaded the feds and phone carriers to crack down on cell phone theft, the fastest-growing crime in New York City.

Schumer and Kelly will join other officials Tuesday to announce the creation of a landmark database of every cell phone�s unique ID number � making it easy to deactivate and render useless any purloined phone.

�Our goal is to make a stolen cell phone as worthless as an empty wallet,� Schumer said.

�With the press of a button, carriers will be able to disable phones and turn highly prized stolen property into worthless chunks of plastic,� Kelly added. �Like draining the swamp to fight malaria, we�re trying to dry up the market to fight iPhone thefts.�

Schumer will also introduce legislation making it a federal crime to tamper with or alter a cell phone�s International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number in order to activate a stolen phone.

The new procedures, agreed to by the Federal Communications Commission and the industry, will make it virtually impossible for stolen phones to be resold on the black market, a huge criminal industry in urban areas.

(Source: NY Daily News)