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Car Theft/Prowls - The ProblemCar thefts remain a big problem in Snohomish County and Washington State.Washington State ranks 3rd in the nation for car thefts with a car being stolen every 27 seconds. On average, 150 cars are stolen every day in the state. A thief can take as little as 1 to 3 minutes to break into a car, start it and then drive off. For a thief who sees something of interest like your cell phone, purse, mail or package, it takes even less time. At the beginning of the 2003 Christmas season, the Crime Prevention Alliance of Snohomish County demonstrated how easily, quickly and quietly a thief can break into a car. If you become a victim of a car prowl, you face bearing the replacement cost for anything that is stolen. Generally, the contents of your car are not covered, including CD's, jewelry, and special stereo systems and speakers. And, deductibles are commonly $250 or $500 for covered items. If your car is stolen you may not be the only victim. After all, the thief has no vested interest in your car. Most stolen vehicles are driven by people who have outstanding warrants, suspended licenses or are driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Law enforcement estimates that up to 80 to 90% of vehicle thefts are drug related. The driver of a stolen car is frequently nervous and inattentive. He may have just committed a crime or is about to commit another crime, leading to the danger of crashing into innocent victims. Frequently, police car chases involve thieves driving stolen cars. A common scenario includes a theft ring of about 15 people who rent an inexpensive motel room. They deal and/or use drugs at the hotel. They plan some sort of criminal activity such as stealing mail. Then they steal one or more cars and then steal the mail, divide stolen checks amongst themselves, alter them, then cash them. They buy some drugs with the cash. Then they start all over again. Other reasons cars are stolen include joyriding, transportation to get from A to B, sell the vehicle, sell it's parts, keep the vehicle (changing the color, plates, etc.). Car Theft/Prowls - How They Get In80-85% of car thieves are amateurs looking for an easy crime of opportunity. They look for cars that they think will be easy to enter and start quickly. They do not want to get caught, so they will not invest a lot of time to get into the car. Also, since they do not want to get caught, they want to be as quiet as possible and they do not want to be observed.According to interviews with actual car thieves, their favorite methods of entering cars includes entering/taking unlocked cars (or cars already running), punching locks, breaking windows, jimmying locks (with skeleton keys, slim jims, etc.). Amazingly, many cars are stolen simply by towing them away (turning your wheels sharply after parking discourages this). 20% of all stolen cars are a result of people leaving their keys in the ignition. People "run into a convenience store on a quick errand" or warm up their cars on a cold morning! Some car thieves hang out in parking lots looking for people to leave their keys in the car. Older cars (early 1980's to mid 1990's) are more popular to steal. They have fewer built-in theft deterrents. Car prowlers are not always picky about what they take. Drug users commonly look for anything they can trade for drugs. This includes food and used clothing. Car prowlers will often pass up expensive stereos in cars that are well protected for cheaper stereos that they can steal easily. Anything visible in your car is fair game. If a car prowler sees it, he is liable to take it! So, a typical car thief is looking for a car that he can easily enter because he knows that it is unlocked, or it is running, or he can quickly break a window or break a lock in a place that no one can see or hear him. A typical car prowler is looking for a car that he can see has something of value that he can easily reach by opening the door or breaking a window where he will not be observed. Car Theft/Prowls- Making It HarderTo protect your car and any valuables that you might have in your car your technique will be to make it so difficult for a car thief that he will move on to someone else's car.The National Insurance Crime Bureau recommends a layered approach when deciding how to protect your car. Each layer adds more difficulty for a thief to gain control of your car or its contents. How many layers that you apply will depend on the level of car theft/car prowls where you take and store your car and how important it is to you not to have your car or its contents stolen. Layer 1 - Common sense, no cost This is your base point for prevention. The simplest and cheapest things you can do.
A visible or audible device that tells thieves your car is protected.
This is a device that prevents thieves from bypassing your ignition and hot-wiring your car.
This is the last resort. When everything else fails a tracking device (like LoJack) allows police to find your car should it be stolen. Obviously, the more layers that you use, the more expensive securing your car becomes. You need to be aware of how serious the car theft problem is in your neighborhood, where you work and where you shop. Then you can decide how far you need to go to protect your car. |