It wasn't too long ago that the New York Police Department revealed theft of Apple products was up 40 percent last year. Now it appears that the NYPD is going further to keep the Big Apple secure for little Apple devices: A team of NYPD officers has been assigned to work with Apple on tracking stolen mobile devices, namely iPhones and iPads, the New York Post reported Friday.

The NYPD team reportedly lets Apple know when a device is reported stolen and tries to pass along to the company the device's International Mobile Equipment Identity number, or IMEI. Apple then uses the IMEI number to locate the device and provide realtime tracking information to officers, according to The Post. The NYPD even managed to track one stolen iPad all the way to the Dominican Republic, though the article says 74 percent of stolen devices are recovered within the five boroughs.

Besides this campaign, the NYPD previously stationed officers in 21 stores selling the iPhone 5 on launch day, asking for customers to register their devices with police. Apple itself has also collaborated with law enforcement in the past, though not always quite so openly, with the San Francisco Police Department coming under scrutiny in 2011 after officers reportedly stood outside while Apple reps searched a local man's home for a iPhone 4S missing prototype. In any case, with iPhone sales through the roof lately, police and thieves are sure to be preoccupied with Apple products for the foreseeable future.