Motor vehicle theft has been a serious property crime raising a major concern in the United States. The cost of this crime to the society and the victims has been considerable. The umbrella term “vehicle theft crime” includes different car-related crimes, including theft of car parts, auto theft, vandalism, and stealing of personal items from a car (Roberts & Block, 2015). Although most of the stolen vehicles are often recovered, most thefts do not result in arrest. Predominantly, vehicle theft crime is highest in the cities due to population and higher households’ rate. Due to the prevalence of car theft and its implications on the victims, effective strategies should be implemented to reduce or stop the crime.
Vehicle theft crime rate is at its peak due to several reasons. Since most cars are parked in the city, there is a greater risk of car theft as they are more available and can be stolen easily. The crime is not typically premeditated, but it tends to occur since most vehicles are parked in unsecured locations with a larger number of other vehicles (Piza & Carter, 2018). These places allow the perpetrators to escape easily and go unnoticed. Some locations prone to vehicle theft crime include shopping malls, parking lots, streets, and parking facilities with easy access to freeways. Most cities also have surface lots with several pedestrian access points, poor surveillance, and inadequate lighting making it easier for vehicle theft to be performed.
Another reason why vehicle theft crime prevails in the city is the busy activities, especially during the day. This type of theft mostly occurs when there are little guardianship and surveillance over the vehicles (Roberts & Block, 2015). Since most of the vehicle owners are busy, they tend to leave their vehicles unattended for extended periods providing the perpetrators an opportunity to commit the crime. There is also a higher poverty level in the urban areas, with most people resolving to vehicle theft crime then resale the cars or export the dismantled parts in order to feed their families.
The geographic targeting of vehicle theft crime represents the most prone areas. Research shows that some residential areas are more prone to car theft than others (Tilley, 2019). The most targeted areas include inner-city areas, areas with a high level of physical disorder, and council estates. Public car parks are also at a higher risk of theft. Local crime analysis is essential in developing crime reduction strategies to enable the identification of vehicle theft crime hotspots and come up with actions for the targeted locations. To reduce crime rates in the hot spots locations, car owners should be persuaded to achieve Secure Car Park status. This includes doing more than demonstrating the scale of the crimes, to direct actions like publicizing the risks of parking locations. Besides installing CCTVs and improving the lighting systems, security car alarms should be activated in every location prone to vehicle theft crime to make the owners alert incase their vehicles are touched (Roberts & Block, 2015). The public should also be encouraged to avoid parking their cars on the streets and ensure they develop in cartilage parking at home.
For offense targeting, vehicle theft crime should be made a national crime punishable by imprisonment or heavy fines. The state government can reduce this offense by increasing police enforcements around estates and streets. This should be done by improving both informal and formal surveillance as a way of increasing the perceived risk that committing the offense will lead to identification and capture (Roberts & Block, 2015). Effective awareness campaigns should be raised to provide prevention method, vehicle crime services, and specific issues. By encouraging the public to consider the implications of their actions and discouraging the behavior will help reduce the potential of theft from occurring.
The vehicle offender population can be categorized into several groups, including those stealing vehicles for temporary use and those who steal for professional gain. The best intervention strategy to deal with vehicle offenders is by increasing access control (Piza & Carter, 2018). This can be done by increasing the number of parking attendants to prevent the perpetrators from performing the crime. By increasing, access control potential offenders will find it harder to access the locations where provocation may occur or where there are potential targets. The target enclosures can be made harder to penetrate to increase the perceived efforts associated with a vehicle theft crime. The use of forensics to detect vehicle thieves should be considered to achieve more arrests and reduce crime. It is important to train the different police tactics of catching vehicle offenders and encourage them to focus on tackling professional vehicle theft crimes.
The three forms of target selection major in preventing vehicle theft crime, but are different in the level of measures. By focusing on locations alone, means that no actions will be taken against the offenders. This will encourage them to develop new strategies of vehicle theft crime like carjacking or even murder. On the other hand, offense targeting involves measures against reducing the crime alone, which may lead to repeated victimization on the victims (Tilley, 2019). However, dealing with the offense incorporates all the interventions needed to prevent and reduce the crime. Offender targeting involves several strategies for dealing with the offenders and how those strategies can help reduce the number of offenders. This strategy is effective, but responses on location and the crime, in general, will be left out. The intervention tactics share a common ground, which is to reduce vehicle theft crime in the city. Offense targeting has the most effective tactics since it incorporates both the location and offenders. By considering the appropriate measures of preventing vehicle theft crime through prone locations, the offenders, and the crime, in general, will be successful in reducing the crime.
In conclusion, vehicle crime theft has been one of the major problems affecting the community. The several reasons for these car thefts include the availability of vehicles; location, and time spent by an individual during their busy hours. Lack of enough surveillance, poor lighting, and few security guards has also worsened the situation. With the prevalence of vehicle theft crime, the reduction strategy needs a clear understanding of the crime reduction strategies. Three intervention strategies focusing on location, offense, and offenders play an important role in dealing with the crime. The best strategy is dealing with the offense targeting in general. This incorporates all the interventions, including those involving the offenders and the locations.
References
Piza, E. L., & Carter, J. G. (2018). Predicting initiator and near-repeat events in spatiotemporal crime patterns: An analysis of residential burglary and motor vehicle theft. Justice Quarterly, 35(5), 842-870.
Roberts, A., & Block, S. (2015). Motor Vehicle Theft. The Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment, 1-3.
Tilley, N. (2019). A Realistic Agenda for Research and Regulation Relating to Crime Prevention. The Future of EU Criminal Justice Policy and Practice (pp. 199-224). Brill Nijhoff.
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