Car theft spikes in the USA during Covid-19 pandemic

With the outbreak of the Covid-9 pandemic, most of the people in the United States of America are staying at home. As a result, their vehicles remain parked – many of them out on the road. This has made them an easy target for thieves.

Drivers are not checking their cars often and the unattended vehicles have resulted in a spike in the number of car thefts in the country in the period January 1, 2020 to mid-May. New York registered a 63% rise in the number of car thefts compared to the same period in 2019. Los Angeles saw a spike of 17% in the same period, while Salt Lake City has seen a rise of 22% in the number of vehicle related burglaries.

In April 2020, the city of Austin, Texas saw a 50% rise in the number of car thefts compared to April 2019. Out of the 322 vehicles, 72% had their keys either inside the car or nearby. The number of burglaries related to cars was up by 2% in the city.

Many of the stolen vehicles are either not locked when they are parked or have their keys either inside them or nearby.

As schools are not functioning, many teenagers are taking to car theft. Other criminals are stealing cars as there is not much scope for carrying out other crimes. Car thefts are carried out even during the day time. It takes a thief just about 10 seconds to carry out a car theft.   

Baltimore, however, has seen a fall of 19% in the number of car thefts and burglaries related to cars in the period January – May 2020. This is because the residents are more vigilant and the police officers have time for proactive patrols due to the decrease in the number of other crimes.

Source

Image