Vehicle Crime
Emerging methods of car theft – theft of keys
Findings suggest that criminals are now concentrating on stealing car keys in order to get around immobilisers. An analysis of 8,303 incidents, over three and a half years between 1998 and 2001, of thefts and attempted thefts of cars in the Northumbria and Greater Manchester areas concludes that there does appear to be some evidence of an increase in the theft of keys over time, particularly through burglaries.
Title: Emerging methods of car theft – theft of keys
Author: Tom Levesley, Greg Braun, Michael Wilkinson and Cymone Powell
Series: Findings 239
Date published: November 2004
Number of pages: 4
Availability: Download full report PDF 60Kb
Key points
For cars registered after 1997, keys were used in 85% of incidents where the method of theft was known.
The most common methods of obtaining keys were through burglary (37%) and through the owner leaving the keys in the car (18%). Here, cars were targeted in sites where drivers were separated from their vehicles for a short period and where normal security measures may be neglected (e.g. private driveways, business premises, petrol stations, outside shops).
There was a rise in the proportion of key thefts during robberies, almost doubling from around 2% to nearly 4% over the 3 years. Although these numbers are very small, this could be evidence of a trend towards more concerted attempts to steal cars.
How car theft stands nationally
Police in England and Wales recorded more than 1.1 million thefts of vehicles between 1998 and 2001. It accounts for around 6% of all crime recorded.
There was a 21% increase nationally in new or nearly new cars (0-3 years) being stolen (rising from 31,823 thefts in 1998 to 38,488 in 2001). This was an increase of 3% of the total number of cars stolen (from 8% to 11%).
89% of car thefts were still of cars more than 3 years old.
5 out of 1000 new cars were stolen compared to 7 seven-year-old cars and 15 nine-year-old cars.
Overall then, new cars are more secure and can not simply be stolen by forcing the ignition, car keys are being stolen instead.
Methods of theft
The charts below show the percentages of each method of car theft. 'Forced ignition' and 'Pushed/ towed away' are methods of car theft that don't involve the use of keys.
In Greater Manchester:
In Northumbria:
Recommendations
For motorists:
Remember to keep your keys safe at all times. Hide a spare set away in your home and never leave them by the front door or window. Also, remove the ignition key every time you leave your vehicle when you are filling the car up with petrol or popping into the newsagents. If you warm your car up in the winter do not leave the vehicle at any time.
For police:
Police need to continue to improve the detail and accuracy of how they record car thefts. A particular concern relating to this study was that the method of theft was unknown in 46% of cases.
For Manufacturers:
Manufacturers should consider with motoring organisations, police and others what further improvements in car security might be put in place, which would help address, this emerging problem. One example might be devices, which prevent cars re - starting once they have been reported stolen.
Last update: Thursday, September 13, 2007