The Auto Theft Problem

Although it declined considerably during the 1990s, motor vehicle theft is still the most expensive property crime in the United States.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) reports that 2010 continued the trend of declining national vehicle thefts for the seventh consecutive year. While the top five hot spots for 2010 showed an increase in thefts over the previous year, the other areas on the top 10 list actually had fewer thefts.

Enormous Cost

Using the FBI’s average valuation of $6,505 per stolen vehicle, the 794,616 vehicles stolen during 2009 caused estimated property losses of $5.2 billion.

Only 12.4 percent of thefts were cleared, either by arrests or by exceptional means, in 2009 (Insurance Information Institute). According to the FBI, a motor vehicle is stolen in the United States every 40 seconds.

Primarily an Urban Problem

While it does occur in rural areas, car theft is primarily an urban problem. However, while residents of rural states may feel relatively safe from car thieves, no place – and no car – is immune.

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Chop Shops

Theft of vehicles has become a big business. Because the parts of a car are worth more collectively than an intact car, many stolen cars are delivered to chop shops. These shops specialize in stripping cars, disposing of identifiable parts and selling others through a national network. Chop shops can meet the demand for parts more quickly and, typically, more cheaply than legitimate parts dealers.

Public Indifference

The fight against auto theft is hampered by public indifference to the crime and the fact that many in law enforcement view it as a low-priority item. Studies have shown that only a small fraction of those arrested for car theft go to prison. Typically, they pay a small fine or are placed on probation for the first one or two offenses. Because of crowding, those who go to jail or prison probably won’t be there long.

Some people regard car theft as merely a crime against property that doesn’t hurt anyone. But even before carjacking, auto theft was threatening people’s safety and breeding more crime. Crashes involving stolen vehicles take lives and cause numerous injuries each year. Stolen cars often are used to commit other crimes — to transport drugs or as a getaway vehicle for a robbery, for example.

Others figure that because insurance pays for stolen cars, no one is hurt financially. But people who buy insurance foot the bill for car theft losses — whether they have claims or not. Theft accounts for a sizable part of the comprehensive coverage premium. Those who live in high-theft areas pay more for their insurance than those who don’t.

Thankfully, considerable progress is being made by the insurance industry, law enforcement, auto manufacturers and citizen backed efforts like The Nation’s Neighborhood Watch for Stolen Vehicles in efforts to thwart it.

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Tools of The Trade
These are some of the tools that car thieves use to commit their crimes:

• Slide hammer puller to break into the door locks and the cylinder lock.
• Spare wires and/or a screwdriver to connect the battery source to the ignition and starter wire.
• A generic rod and hook toolkit to slip between the car window and car frame and to open the lock behind the window. A common one is called the Slim Jim.
• Many keyless ignition/lock cars have weak[ or no cryptographic protection of the unlock signal. Proof-of-Concept “thefts” of top-of-the-line luxury cars have been demonstrated by academic researchers using commercially available tools such asRFID microreaders, but is unknown whether the attack has been used for actual theft.
• In the case of carjackings a firearm or other weapon such as a baseball bat, or a utility knife or box cutter to threaten a passenger if inside the car.