The business of boosting cars is in a bear market.
Jurisdictions around the area are experiencing huge drops in the number of stolen cars as new-car technology and increased enforcement efforts thwart would-be thieves.
Montgomery County saw 512 fewer car thefts, or a 23 percent drop, in 2009 than the previous year. The District saw a 9 percent drop, and Fairfax County a 15 percent decline. Last year’s statistics weren’t immediately available for Prince George’s County, the long-time area leader in stolen cars, but it has seen a steady four-year decline since a high of 18,482 in 2004 to 9,743 in 2008, state records show.
The local slowdown in car thefts mirrors a nationwide trend. The National Insurance Crime Bureau reported last year that auto thefts around the country declined for the fifth straight year.
“It’s one of those statistics that shocked us,” said John Townsend, spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic auto club, adding that he thought car thefts in the region would rise because of the recession.
Townsend and other officials said newer cars with high-tech anti-theft devices, hot-wire-proof ignitions, and built-in GPS units that can track stolen cars deserve much of the credit for the decline in car thefts.
About 70 percent of stolen cars in Montgomery County are recovered, with about half of all stolen cars returned within 30 days. That shows that many of the thieves are joyriders, looking for a quick thrill, police said.
Montgomery County Police Sgt. Gerry McFarland, who briefed County Council members on the police department’s efforts to curb auto thefts, said video recovered from county-owned bait cars showed would-be thieves getting excited about the fact that the stolen car had plenty of gas in the tank for a lengthy joyride.
“There’s no thought of getting caught,” McFarland said.
A report from an anti-theft task force in Baltimore showed that almost two-thirds of stolen cars had an unlocked door and nearly a quarter of stolen cars had the keys in the car or ignition.
McFarland said he saw no evidence that residents were locking their cars more often than in the past. He said that residents in downcounty areas, like wealthy Bethesda, often leave their cars unlocked in the mistaken belief that they are in a neighborhood immune to car thefts.
“They don’t believe it’s going to happen down there,” he said.
Reported thefts of items from cars, which also has been a significant problem, showed slight drops in Montgomery and the District in 2009.
