Attorney General Lisa Madigan wants smartphone manufacturers to develop a "kill switch" that would render stolen phones inoperable.
Madigan says she's joining other attorneys general, major city police chiefs and consumer advocates at a summit with four major smartphone manufacturers.
They are Apple, Google/Motorola, Microsoft and Samsung.
The Illinois Democrat says the "kill switch" could be remotely activated by a phone's owner after the phone is stolen.
She says it would deter theft by making stolen phones worthless.
Madigan says thefts of smartphones have increased in recent years.
Some of those thefts have been violent and even deadly.