- Geography, including a neighborhood breakdown
- Makes and models targeted
- Recovery locations
- Offenders
- Seasonal variations
- The prolific Toyota Camry pattern
- Top hot spots in 1999
Auto Theft Over the
Past 25 Years
1999 Annual Report
Auto Theft
Defined as the theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle, this offense category includes the theft of automobiles, trucks, buses, motorcycles, motor scooters, and snowmobiles. This definition excludes the taking of a motor vehicle for temporary use by persons having lawful access.
Auto Theft up 9%, from
397 in 1998 to 431 in 1999
|
Auto Theft Over the
Past 25 Years |
Auto theft has shown the most consistent and dramatic decline of any crime over the past 20 years. The 1999 total of 430, although up 9% from 1998, still represents a decrease of 81% from 20 years ago and 63% from 10 years ago. The 1998 total was the lowest in over 35 years. Statistics for auto theft are considered highly reliable because almost all auto thefts are reported to the police.
More than any other crime, auto theft has been positively influenced by effective law enforcement activity. This steady decline can be attributed to the near elimination of “chop shops” that trade in stolen parts and interstate auto theft rings (in part by the Governor’s Auto Theft Strike Force); crackdowns on insurance fraud; advances in automobile security; and new technologies that enable patrol officers to quickly check a vehicle’s registry listing and determine if it is stolen. The result is that “for profit” thefts are nearly a thing of the past. Most of today’s auto thieves are joy riders or people looking for short-term transportation; over 80% of stolen cars are recovered relatively intact, usually within five days of being stolen.
1999’s auto theft totals carefully paced those in 1998, with 5-10% decreases each month, until the month of October. For the last three months of the year—sparked by one extremely damaging pattern that continues into 2000—auto theft shot skyward, resulting in an eight percent increase for the year.
East Cambridge, Area 4, and Cambridgeport generally show the highest auto theft totals—they are the top three in both the 1990s average totals and the 1999 totals. Area 4’s and Cambridgeport’s high totals come from their dense residential populations and their Central Square area commercial parking lots. East Cambridge has some of the densest commercial parking in the city.
Auto Theft by Neighborhood
|
Neighborhood |
1990s Average |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
Change 98–99 |
% of 99 Total |
1990s Rank |
1999 Rank |
|
East Cambridge |
87 |
86 |
48 |
67 |
+40% |
16% |
2 |
1 |
|
MIT |
58 |
43 |
20 |
34 |
+70% |
8% |
6 |
6 |
|
Inman/Harrington |
50 |
16 |
42 |
28 |
-33% |
6% |
7 |
8 |
|
Area 4 |
77 |
47 |
63 |
64 |
+2% |
15% |
3 |
2 |
|
Cambridgeport |
88 |
92 |
52 |
57 |
+10% |
13% |
1 |
3 |
|
Mid-Cambridge |
72 |
29 |
24 |
30 |
+25% |
7% |
4/5 |
7 |
|
Riverside |
43 |
24 |
31 |
36 |
+16% |
8% |
10 |
5 |
|
Agassiz |
21 |
8 |
3 |
11 |
+267% |
3% |
11 |
11 |
|
Peabody |
44 |
31 |
37 |
27 |
-27% |
6% |
9 |
9 |
|
West Cambridge |
45 |
24 |
31 |
23 |
-26% |
5% |
8 |
10 |
|
North Cambridge |
72 |
61 |
36 |
38 |
+6% |
9% |
4/5 |
4 |
|
Highlands |
16 |
16 |
10 |
10 |
None |
2% |
12 |
12 |
|
Strawberry Hill |
9 |
6 |
0 |
6 |
Incalc. |
1% |
13 |
13 |
North Cambridge ranks fourth, and a third of its incidents are reported along Rindge Avenue, where three high-rise apartment buildings share a parking lot. The MIT neighborhood is notable for the fact that 80% of its auto thefts occur on Vassar Street.
The Riverside neighborhood is the only neighborhood to significantly increase its ranking (from 10 to 5) during the 1990s, but there are no particular hot spots in this area, and the average number of thefts declined.
No neighborhood ended 1999 higher than its decade average. Mid Cambridge was the most improved, ending 1999 58% below its decade average.
The Toyota Camry always ranks among the top three models stolen, but in 1999 it shot to the top of the list because of the fall/winter Camry theft pattern (reviewed below). As usual, the Honda Accord and the Toyota Corolla round out the top three.
|
Makes |
Models |
||
|
Toyota |
95 |
Toyota Camry |
65 |
|
Honda |
39 |
Honda Accord |
21 |
|
Ford |
36 |
Toyota Corolla |
11 |
|
Nissan |
25 |
Jeep Cherokee |
11 |
|
Dodge |
24 |
Honda Civic |
10 |
|
Chevrolet |
23 |
Ford Taurus |
9 |
|
Acura |
18 |
Acura Integra |
|