{"id":40016,"date":"2011-06-22T10:07:37","date_gmt":"2011-06-22T14:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=40016"},"modified":"2011-06-22T11:13:14","modified_gmt":"2011-06-22T15:13:14","slug":"u-s-auto-thefts-fall-to-lowest-level-since-1967","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2011\/06\/u-s-auto-thefts-fall-to-lowest-level-since-1967\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Auto Thefts Fall to Lowest Level Since 1967"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Car theft fall sharply in 2010 - though there are major "hot spots in California, experts warn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Maybe it\u2019s the video game craze?\u00a0 You\u2019re certainly less likely to get busted for stealing a car in Grand Theft Auto.\u00a0 A nationwide crackdown is getting at least some of the credit for what appeared to be a 7.2% decline in car thefts last year.\u00a0 The preliminary number, if it holds, would mark the seventh annual decline in a row and mark the lowest level of car thefts since 1967.<\/p>\n

The West Coast remains a hotbed for car thieves, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, which found that the Los Angeles suburb of Fresno saw the relatively rare increase in car thefts in 2010, which launched it from fifth to first among the urban regions NICB tracks.<\/p>\n

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Subscribe for Free!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other Left Coast hot spots included Sacramento, Spokane and San Francisco \u2013 Oakland, the insurance trade group reported.\u00a0 California had eight of the Top 10 areas for car theft in 2010.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Los Angeles was one of the many cities to report a decline in car thefts, along with the New York region, Dallas, Detroit and Miami.<\/p>\n

Of the 366 Metropolitan Statistical Areas, or MSAs, tracked, the lowest rate of theft was once again recorded in State College, PA, which counted just 46 last year, or 30 per 100,000 residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, the news is good,\u201d said an NICB report.\u00a0 \u201cIf the trend continues, when the final numbers are in from the FBI, 2010 could show the lowest number of thefts since 1967.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crime, in general, has been going down in recent years, and part of that has been due to greater enforcement efforts.\u00a0 In Dallas, for example, police have been running stings, leaving \u201cbait\u201d cars in areas where car theft has been a particular problem \u2013 often with keys in the ignition.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, some West Coast communities, like Fresno, have been hampered by budget problems and over-crowded jails.\u00a0 An official in the community noted that it is common for car thieves to be released after their bookings \u2013 only to be re-arrested within the week.<\/p>\n

Automakers are also getting some of the credit for the lower theft rate, according to Mike Buchanan, NICB supervisory agent in Chicago.<\/p>\n

\u201cVehicle manufacturers have been evolving their technologies with new, innovative anti-theft devices they\u2019re placing on their vehicles,\u201d he noted, while also working with authorities to maximize the effect.<\/p>\n

General Motors\u2019 OnStar system, for example, can help authorities track the movements of a stolen vehicle and even disable its engine to make it easier for police to pull the thief to a stop.<\/p>\n

The NICB also recommends motorists equip their vehicles with various anti-theft devices, such as the LoJack tracking system and Ravelco engine disabler.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Preliminary numbers suggest car thefts fell in 2010 to their lowest level since 1967 due to better technology and law enforcement crackdowns. But, as TheDetroitBureau.com reports, California now has 8 of the nation’s 10 top spots for car theft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36441,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[151],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40016"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40016"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=40016"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=40016"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=40016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}