Essentially every comprehensive smartphone market report this year has estimated Windows global usage share at well below 1 percent, down from 2 or 3 in the recent past. And Kantar claims Microsoft’s nearly abandoned mobile OS accounted for 2.3 percent of US sales between June and August 2016, 4.1 percent in the EU5 region, and 0.1, yes, 0.1 percent in China.

The Redmond-based tech giant in charge of the project even admitted Windows 10 Mobile just isn’t the focus right now (was it ever?), shortly before indirectly disclosing 1.2 million Lumia unit shipments for the April – June quarter.

Still, the seemingly dying platform hasn’t been abandoned by all its devoted users yet, with at least 36,000 of them relying on ancient Lumia 830 and 640 XL models to help fight crime in the great city of New York.

It apparently took the department roughly a year and a half to “build out a platform, get data in order, and give out devices”, but now that the entire police force is equipped with (relatively current) mobile technology in addition to guns and badges, there’s no going back. Or switching to Android, iOS or even BlackBerries, as Windows Phone (8.1) reportedly includes all the security and remote management features needed to make work easier for New York’s finest.

The NYPD instead seeks a swift move to faster, longer-lasting Windows 10 Mobile phones, although tests and inspections should take a few more months. Wait, so, if Microsoft decides to dump the OS in the meantime, can that technically be considered aiding and abetting?

Source: Cnet