Thugs targeting straphangers with high-end cell phones have caused a spike in subway robberies, police brass said yesterday.

The uptick has prompted police to supplement undercover surveillance operations with an unusual public outreach effort, police said.

"In the last four months, I've actually put police officers on trains with some bullhorns doing safety lectures, which we're going to continue to do," NYPD Transit Bureau Chief James Hall said at an MTA committee meeting.

Hall specifically cited the T-Mobile Sidekick model as a sought-after device.

The model, carried by such notables as Snoop Dogg and Paris Hilton, has a camera, music player and e-mail capabilities - and retails for about $300.

There were 111 robberies - theft using force - in December, a 59% increase over December 2007, when there were 70 robberies, according to new NYPD data.

Between January and December last year, robberies increased 3.4% to 823 when compared with all of 2007.

The robbery spike comes after back-to-back, double-digit decreases.

Such felonies dropped 11% in 2006 and 18% in 2007, Hall said.

"You do come to a point where you are fighting your own success," Hall said.

Police in December charged three men with three of the robberies but suspect they carried out as many as 13.

NYC Transit President Howard Roberts, meanwhile, reported a drop in graffiti on trains parked in railyards since the agency launched its Eagle Team, a surveillance unit.

source: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/01/26/2009-01-26_thefts_on_subways_up_as_thugs_target_tmo.html