By JARED G. JONES
Between 1994 and 1997, the average number of car thefts per month has nearly doubled in Salt Lake City. The number of car thefts rose from an average of 168 thefts per month in 1994 to an average of 320 thefts in 1997, according to the Salt Lake Police Department.
The increasing trend began during 1995 and can be attributed to many things, including increased home security, said Dave Doepner, operations analyst for SLPD.
“It is getting more and more difficult (for perpetrators) to commit burglaries,” Doepner said. Better locks, neighborhood watch programs and home security systems all make criminals turn to cars, which are “easier to steal,” he said.
Items left in cars — laptop computers, CD players and radios, cellular phones and day planners — also cause cars to be more of a target than anything else, Doepner said.
“People have so (many things) they leave (some) of it in the car. It makes cars a lot more attractive to steal,” he said. Cars parked in accessible areas — open streets, poorly-lit areas and parking lots and areas with low traffic flow — also make a car attractive to criminals.
Car thefts are not the only car-related crimes that are increasing. Vandalism and stripping cars for parts are usually attempts at theft and have increased at about the same rate as car thefts, Doepner said.
Citizens can do many things to keep from being victims of car theft, said Rolayne Fairclough, representative of the Auto Club of Utah.
According to information obtained from the American Automobile Association, Fairclough said simple things can protect consumers from theft. Not leaving keys in a car, locking doors and windows, removing valuables from a car and parking in a well-lit area all are theft deterrents, she said.
Doepner said many thefts occur when people leave their cars running while they run into a store to get a drink or something small. “We could probably (lower the number of thefts) if people would lock up their cars and take their keys with them,” Doepner said. “Cars are stolen when they are accessible.”
According to the SLPD, about 70 to 80 percent of all cars stolen are eventually recovered.
