By David Lohr
January 4, 2007
(Crime Library) — A motor vehicle is stolen every 26 seconds in the United States. According to the latest data, the odds of a vehicle being stolen are 1 in 190. The FBI reports that 1.2 million vehicles were stolen during 2005 with property losses estimated at $7.6 billion dollars. These crimes do not just affect the victims. Since 2003, they have caused the average insurance premium to rise 11.2 percent.
The problem with auto thefts is that anyone can pull them off. One does not need to be a criminal mastermind to hotwire a car. Kids as young as twelve can do so in less than 60 seconds. However, only 13 percent of all auto thefts result in an arrest. If the thief is not caught in the act, he or she generally gets away free and clear. This is especially true in bigger cities where the cars are taken to underground chop shops, stripped down and parted out.
These are not nickel and dime crimes. The stolen parts, especially those taken from high-end cars, account for millions of dollars in illegal sales every year. To combat this problem, several police departments throughout the United States have started using high-tech "bait cars" to catch would-be car thieves.
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| Car thief arrested |
The typical scenario is as follows. The bait car is parked in a high-theft area. Eventually, the car proves to be too enticing. An unsuspecting car thief jimmies the door open, busts the ignition lock and is on his or her way down the road in seconds. Simple enough right? Wrong. A silent alarm alerts police of the theft as soon as the car starts. Using global positioning devices, they are able to find the car within minutes. Once a sighting is made, a roadblock is set up, and one of the pursuing units uses a remote device to shut off the bait car's engine and lock the doors. As the car slows to a stop, half a dozen armed officers surround the thief and take him or her into custody.
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