The 20 worst cities for stolen cars tilt toward the West Coast, again | Motoramic - Yahoo! Autos
Car and truck thefts nationwide fell in 2011 by 3.3 percent, according to the FBI data released just last week, and thanks to a platoon of modern technology, car thieves haul off fewer vehicles today than at any point over the past two decades. But there's still more than 730,000 vehicles swiped every year -- and a new report released today pinpoints the 20 cities where thefts are most likely. If you live in California, you might want to invest in some vehicle security.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau calculates the rate of vehicle thefts for 366 cities based on registration data and insurance reports. That rate means even small cities can rank high for auto thefts if they suffer a breakout or two of wheeljacking in any given year. While 50,671 vehicles were reported stolen in the
Los Angeles area last year, it only ranked 23rd-worst for overall theft rate, while the
New York-New Jersey metro area and its 29,135 vehicle thefts ranked 193rd, between Canton, Ohio, and Ocala, Fla.
And while this year's top four cities are the same as last year's, some police departments have shown how to fight back successfully. Laredo, Texas had the nation's worst auto theft rate in 2009, but ranked 53rd this year, cutting thefts by more than half to 849 in 2011. The secret: More police officers, more public announcements about the problem and the purchase of
two mobile monitoring towers that allow police to scan parking lots for suspicious behavior.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
