NU Online News Service, June 21, 3:09 p.m. EST
When it comes to vehicle thefts, former President Jimmy Carter had it right when he said, "Whatever starts in California unfortunately has an inclination to spread."
Despite a declining trend nationally, vehicle thefts are continuing to riddle California cities, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB).
Using data from the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), the NICB compiled vehicle theft rates and rankings for Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the U.S. for 2010. Eight of the top 10 "hot spots" for vehicle thefts were located in California, according the NICB's results.
Fresno, Modesto, Bakersfield-Delano, Vallejo-Fairfield, Sacramento/Arden-Arcade/Roseville, Stockton, Visalia-Porterville, and San Francisco/Oakland/Fremont are all California cities that made the NICB's top 10 list this year.
Fresno moved from the fifth spot in 2009 to the number one city for vehicle thefts in 2010. Vallejo-Fairfield and Sacramento/Arden-Arcade/Roseville ranked 16 and 11, respectively, in last year's Hot Spots report before making the top 10 this year.
The only other areas making the list came from Washington State: Spokane and Yakima, with Spokane jumping from 18 last year to four this year.
Why the prevalence of auto theft in California and the West Coast in general? NICB Spokesman Frank Scafidi offered his opinion.
"The simple answer is that there are many more cars registered in California than anywhere else, combined with a very large population," he says. "When you have a lot of targets and a lot of people, it becomes a target-rich environment."
Despite California's problems, there is good news for insurers. The FBI's preliminary 2010 crime statistics published last month indicate a 7.2 percent drop in overall vehicle thefts from 2009's number of 794,616. If that estimate holds when the final statistics are published in the fall, it would result in the lowest annual vehicle thefts since 1967, says the NICB.
"I think [the drop] is related to a combination of things we've seen over the past several years," says Scafidi. "The vehicles being made today are more secure than in the past, with even budget/entry-level cars coming equipped with security measures that just weren't available in the past."
Scafidi says that law enforcement technology is aiding in the fight, too.
"Advancements in the technology that law enforcement use to find and spot stolen vehicles more quickly are likely helping lower statistics," he says. "Things such as license plate readers allow officers to scan hundreds of vehicles in a shift, whereas in the past it might take them two days to reach that kind of volume. Bait cars are another piece of technology that helps get the most prolific thieves off the street
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.