The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) reported today that for calendar year 2005, the West, and particularly California, is “heaven for the nation’s auto thieves.” All of the nation’s top ten areas with the highest vehicle theft rates are in the West with six of them in California:
- 1. Modesto, CA
- 2. Las Vegas/Paradise, NV
- 3. Stockton, CA
- 4. Phoenix/Mesa/Scottsdale, AZ
- 5. Visalia/Porterville, CA
- 6. Seattle/Tacoma/Bellevue, WA
- 7. Sacramento/Arden-Arcade/Roseville, CA
- 8. San Diego/Carlsbad/San Marcos, CA
- 9. Fresno, CA
- 10. Yakima, WA
According to Hot Spots, its annual report on auto theft rates, NICB reviewed data supplied by the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) for each of the nation’s 360 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). MSAs are designated by the Office of Management and Budget and may include areas surrounding a specific city. For example, the number one Hot Spot in the current report is Modesto, CA. The Modesto MSA, however, includes data not only from the city of Modesto, but the entire county of Stanislaus in which Modesto is located.
The rate is determined by the number of vehicle theft offenses per 100,000 inhabitants using the 2004 U.S. Census Population Estimates, the most current figures available.
Preliminary FBI data shows a 2.1% decrease in motor vehicle thefts during January-June, 2005 when compared with the same period in 2004. Nationally, this is the second straight year of decreases in vehicle theft and that is good news.
