Auto Theft and Its Prevention

Abstract

Auto theft makes a substantial contribution to the crime statistics of the United States. Eleven percent of all Uniform Crime Report index crimes in 1989 and 12 percent of crimes reported in the Victim Risk Supplement to the National Crime Survey comprised thefts of and from vehicles. Auto theft is even more prevalent in other developed countries, particularly when theft rates are calculated per vehicles registered. Marked urban/rural and intercity variations are only partly explained by variations in overall levels of crime or in the availability of vehicles. Many thefts involve cars parked in the street at night, and automobile models vary greatly in their vulnerability to theft. Auto theft has not increased more than other important property crimes in the United States during the last thirty years but may have come increasingly under the domain of more adult, organized offenders. Even so, thefts for temporary use and joyriding outnumber professional thefts by at least two to one. In turn, these forms of auto theft are outnumbered by thefts from vehicles (including components) by about five to one. The most promising preventive approach is through the manufacture of more secure vehicles. Improved documentation of ownership and environmental modifications at parking lots might also yield some gains.