State Leads U.S. in Car Thefts, With L.A. Area Topping 73,000

Fewer cars were stolen last year in the United States, but the car mecca that is California has earned the unfortunate distinction of the nation’s auto-theft hotspot, according to a report this week.

The state is home to seven of the 10 metropolitan areas ranked highest in vehicle theft rates in 2004, a report by the National Insurance Crime Bureau found.

Modesto for the second year topped the list with 7,024 auto theft offenses per 100,000 residents, followed by Stockton. Las Vegas, Phoenix and Seattle also made the list, comprising mostly northern and central California metropolitan areas. San Diego ranked eighth.

Fresno, the only metropolitan area in California that has made the list every year since 1995, came in ninth.

Despite leading the pack in sheer numbers, Los Angeles had almost 2,400 fewer thefts last year, and moved from 16 to 21 in the per-capita rankings. Overall, the city tallied 73,071 stolen cars, about 53% more than the 40,749 thefts in second-place Chicago.

The high total is, in part, a result of the city’s large size, said Frank Scafidi, spokesman for the National Insurance Crime Bureau, which released the report Tuesday. Metropolitan areas, as defined in the report, can include areas surrounding a city. The Los Angeles metropolitan area encompasses the city of Long Beach.

Although car thefts declined in Los Angeles County, they rose statewide.

“We have a lot of people and a lot of cars in California compared to other states,” said Lt. Joe Whiteford, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol who formerly managed the department’s auto theft unit. “We also have a lot of young people, and young people make up a majority of car thieves.”

California is also home to 80% of the nation’s methamphetamine labs, according to the state attorney general’s office, a statistic that tends to coincide with high car theft rates, Scafidi said.

“If you have a lot of people addicted to [meth] they are going to do things to secure the money to keep their habit going,” he said. “If people leave things in their cars, that’s going to present an opportunity for someone to turn that item into cash.”

The most commonly stolen vehicles in Southern California insured through the American Automobile Assn. are Toyota Camrys and Honda Civics and Accords. Some cars are selected because they are easier to steal. Honda Accords and Civics and Acura Integras are popular with young people and can be “spiffed up” for street racing, said Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring.

Car theft “is a crime of opportunity,” Whiteford said. “I’ve seen people leave their cars running when they go to the convenience store.... One of my investigators arrested a guy who stole a car to go to a job interview.”

Only a small percentage, roughly 10%, of car thefts in California are “professional” jobs, Whiteford said. In California, the recovery rate for stolen vehicles is about 90%, he said. The national rate is about 65%, Scafidi said.

“If there is a higher recovery rate, that typically means the vehicles stolen in the area aren’t being shipped to another country or stripped,” he said. Instead they are being “stolen because someone wants an item in the car and wants to get away.”

Most cars are stolen from August to December. Warmer weather means many car windows are left open, presenting an easy target. In December, holiday gifts left in cars lure thieves.

In Los Angeles, authorities attribute the decrease in car thefts to new strategies such as computer-assisted crime tracking and increased communication between law enforcement and the community, said Det. Thomas Barnhart, with the LAPD’s San Fernando Valley auto theft task force.

The department is also using new technology such as license-plate readers in patrol cars and state-of-the-art bait cars to net potential car thieves.

An incentive for officers to recover stolen vehicles is the “10851” Award. Los Angeles police and CHP officers who recover six or more cars in a 12-month period get a certificate and a pin shaped like a license plate, said Det. Lorenzo Barbosa. The award is named for the California Vehicle Code section that covers vehicle thefts.

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Anti-theft tips

* Don’t leave your keys inside the vehicle or leave your vehicle unlocked, even “just for a minute.”

* Don’t leave valuable items visible inside the car, such as electronic devices, purses or luggage.

* Buy an alarm system, an ignition shut-off device and/or a theft-tracking device.

* When possible, park in a secure garage, or in a well-lighted area that has pedestrian traffic.

* Don’t leave a spare ignition key hidden on the vehicle.

* To report thefts or theft-related activity, call (800) TELL CHP.

Source: Auto Club of Southern California

Los Angeles Times

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The Golden State for car thieves

California has seven of the 10 metropolitan areas nationwide with the highest rates of vehicle theft last year. Los Angeles-Long Beach experienced more thefts than any other metropolitan area in the country, but on a per-capita basis ranked 21st.

Thefts in Los Angeles

Total thefts

2004: 73,071

2003: 75,430

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Thefts per 100,000 population:

2004: 768

2003: 792

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U.S. metropolitan areas with most car thefts

(2004)

1. Modesto

2. Stockton-Lodi

3. Las Vegas

4. Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz.

5. Sacramento

6. Oakland

7. Visalia-Tulare-Porterville

8. San Diego

9. Fresno

10. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.

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Most frequently stolen vehicles insured by AAA in Southern California (2004)

1. Toyota Camry

2. Honda Civic

3. Honda Accord

4. Acura Integra

5. Toyota pickup trucks

6. Saturn S-series cars

7. Chevy and GMC pickup trucks

8. Ford F-series pickup trucks

9. Toyota Corolla

10. Nissan pickup trucks

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California metropolitan areas

How California cities rank nationally in car thefts

*--* Thefts per 2004 2003 Total 100,000 rank rank Metropolitan area Thefts population 1. 1. Modesto 7,024 1,571 2. 3. Stockton-Lodi 8,163 1,448 5. 5. Sacramento 18,747 1,151 6. 7. Oakland 24,855 1,039 7. 15. Visalia-Tulare-Porterville 3,800 1,033 8. 9. San Diego 27,396 974 9. 6. Fresno 8,770 951 11. 12. Riverside-San Bernardino 30,713 944 16. 22. Bakersfield 5,337 807 17. 19. Merced 1,688 802 21. 16. Los Angeles-Long Beach 73,071 768 22. 37. San Francisco 12,865 743 28. 34. Yolo 1,121 665 30. 39. Chico-Paradise 1,348 663 32. 36. Vallejo-Fairfield-Napa 3,389 653 40. 46. Yuba City 847 609 73. 65. Salinas 1,927 480 77. 90. Orange County 13,247 465 91. 126. San Jose 7,376 438 108. 123. Redding 653 400 122. 167. Ventura 2,808 373 147. 139. Santa Rosa 1,504 328 163. 200. Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc 1,190 298 177. 206. Santa Cruz-Watsonville 731 286 261. 272. San Luis Obispo-Atascadero-Paso Robles 418 169

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Sources: Automobile Club of Southern California, National Insurance Crime Bureau