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Motor
Vehicle Theft on the Rise
by Jim McMahon
El Cajon, California, August 17, 2004 – “A parolee-at-large,
accused of fleeing from police in a stolen car and causing a six-car crash
today, is being charged with gross vehicular manslaughter, auto theft,
possession of a stolen vehicle and reckless driving. Prior, in June, 2001,
the accused was convicted of burglary and stealing a car.”
Tacoma, Washington, August 17, 2004 – “Headline: Dad’s Truck Stolen with Sleeping Baby Inside. A father bolted from a pizza restaurant when he saw a woman steal his truck with his sleeping six-month-old daughter inside. The man was keeping an eye on his truck, which was parked outside the restaurant with the door locked and the air conditioning running. He watched as a woman approached the truck, used a master key to enter the truck, and took off before he could stop her. Police later captured the woman and charged her with auto theft and first-degree kidnapping.”
If you think the above car heists are isolated incidents, they are not. Every day in U.S. cities an average of 2,700 cars are stolen. Every 33 seconds a vehicle is taken. More than a million cars are stolen every year. 80% of stolen cars were unlocked when the intruder made his move. Half of those stolen vehicles, believe it or not, still had the keys in the ignition.
Motor vehicle theft is the fastest growing crime in the U.S. as reported by the FBI’s latest statistics. For the past four consecutive years, vehicle theft was the only major crime that has risen every year, a cumulative total increase of 9.7% over the four-year period, and is rising twice as fast as burglaries and murder for the same time period.
Motor vehicle theft isn’t just the case of a car being stolen. As can be seen in the above reports, innocent victims can be involved, which can bring about assaults, kidnapping and murder.
In May of 2004, the FBI released its crime statistics for the year 2003 in its Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) publication. This report, with input from a total of 8,532 cities, provides statistical data for the total increases and decreases in serious crimes committed throughout the U.S. in the prior year. The crimes reported on are murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Motor vehicle theft was one of the few serious crimes that showed an across-the-boards increase. This comes on the heels of three consecutive years of motor vehicle theft increases as reported by the UCR.
Western U.S. cities showed the highest increases in motor vehicle theft for 2003 with a 5.8% increase over 2002. In Yuma, Arizona, for example, one to 1.5 vehicles are stolen every day, according to Yuma Police spokesperson, Leanne Worthen. In 2003, 505 vehicles were stolen in the city, she says, up 30% over 2002. “People have the misleading opinion that only new cars will be stolen, this is not true. Thieves are simply looking for vehicles that will serve their needs. A majority of the vehicles stolen in Yuma County are later used for criminal activity.”
Yuma is not the only city with car theft problems escalating. These cities are a few of those that showed the highest increases in motor vehicle theft for 2003:
Charlotte, North Carolina -
47% Increase
Fort Collins, Colorado - 46% Increase
Reno, Nevada - 40% Increase
Modesto, California - 39% Increase
Allentown, Pennsylvania - 38% Increase
Birmingham, Alabama - 36% Increase
Abilene, Texas - 33% Increase
Sioux Falls, Colorado - 31% Increase
How to Keep Your Vehicle From Being Stolen
How do you keep your vehicle from becoming the next statistic? Officer Martin Marquez, with the Arizona Department of Public Safety, recommends a layered approach to security, including:
1) Always
lock all doors.
2) Roll the windows up tight.
3) Park in safe, well-lighted areas near your destination.
4) Don’t leave any valuable in sight in your vehicle.
5) Use a steering wheel lock.
6) Ensure you have an alarm system.
7) Don’t hide spare keys, they can be found.
8) VIN
etchings into your vehicle’s parts and accessories to help find
the criminal and deter future theft.
“And above all, don’t put yourself in a position where you could become a victim of a stolen car attempt gone awry.” Says Dr. Ignatius Piazza, Founder and Director of Front Sight Resorts, the largest personal safety and self defense training school in the U.S. “If a criminal is trying to steal your car and you come on to the scene, then your personal safety immediately is at risk.”
“Will you know what to do? Will you have the instinct to act immediately and do the right thing so you, and your family, will not become a victim?” Dr. Piazza continues. “The only real guarantee you have that you will make it out unscathed or even alive, is whether or not you have been trained in real-life scenarios to react properly to this kind of dangerous situation.”
Car thieves have become so proficient that they can defeat almost any vehicle protection system. Some thieves are so good they can unlock your car without the key just as fast as you can with it. Proofing up the security of your vehicle will make it less than an ideal target for them, and learning the skills to protect yourself could save your life.
For more information on Front
Sight Resorts world-class self-defense and personal-safety courses for
executives, please call 800-987-7719; email info@frontsight.com;
or visit their web site at www.frontsight.com.
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Jim McMahon writes on personal safety issues.