In its most recent Hot Spots analysis, the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) reports a continuing national trend of waning vehicle thefts.
The Des Plaines, Ill.-based organization will publish final numbers this fall but has already reported that 2011 shows another consecutive year of progress. Although four of the top 10 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) logged more thefts last year—an additional 925 collectively—the remaining six posted fewer by comparison—2,017 fewer, collectively.
Another continuing trend is that the majority of thefts occur west of the Mississippi. California accounts for 12 of the 20 worst cities for vehicle theft, mostly in central California, which has struggled with dwindling law enforcement budgets in a down economy. However, police in Fresno, which consistently tops the infamous list, have been successful in driving down auto thefts this year. Fresno police told The Fresno Bee that through March of 2012, thefts were down by 37 percent.
Earlier in June, the FBI released preliminary crime statistics that seems to corroborate NICB's findings. The FBI points to a 3.3-percent drop in vehicle thefts in 2011, from the 737,142 occurrences in 2010. Contributing to this decline was the significant progress in the Laredo, Texas. This MSA posted the nation's worst vehicle theft rate in 2009. Just two years later, Laredo slid to the 53rd spot, reducing the number of incidents from 1,792 in 2009 to 849 in 2011.
The Laredo Police Department credits its success to increasing patrols, a public awareness campaign and the installation of monitoring towers, which allow police to scan parking lots for suspicious activity.
It is important to note that when compiling each Hot Spots report, NICB examines vehicle theft data obtained by the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) for each of the nation's MSAs. Each report reflects vehicle thefts on a per capita basis. Thus, an area with a much smaller population and a moderate number of thefts can—and often does—have a higher theft rate than an area with a much more significant vehicle theft problem and a larger population to absorb it.
The chart lists the top 10 hotbeds for auto theft, along with their respective rankings for the preceding year. Conversely, cars may be safest in State College, Pennsylvania, Elmira, N.Y., or Harrisonburg, Va., which ranked near the bottom.
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