NCJ Number
78974
Date Published
1977
Length
43 pages
Annotation
Trends in automobile thefts in West Germany, motives and methods of operation for various kinds of thefts, and automobile theft prevention measures are outlined.
Abstract
Vehicles have become of central importance both as an object of thefts and as an essential tool of offenders. In fact, a third of all crimes are in some way related to vehicles. While automobile thefts have fallen since 1967, the number of motor bike thefts has increased considerably. Offenses can be classified either as joy riding or as real thefts. From the perspective of the police, the two types are not in most cases equally serious. Vehicles are generally stolen for joy rides by juveniles under 21 from lower class families who want to drive a car or to try something risky to impress friends. Many of the vehicles stolen are unlocked and even have keys in the ignition. Actual automobile thefts are usually committed by organized criminals often also engaged in check fraud or forged car paper schemes. Vehicles are usually sold or chopped up for parts at a large profit. Organized car thieves forge papers and change license plates. Cars may also be stripped down to allow new registration as a car in the process of being built, doubly insured using forged papers and destroyed, or given the identity of a vehicle which has been totally wrecked. International car theft rings steal vehicles, provide them with forged or stolen papers, and sell them abroad. Efforts to control and prevent automobile thefts include introduction of difficult-to-forge licenses, use of watermarks to identify car registration papers and drivers' licenses, and prohibitions on sales of car papers. Other measures involve special police training for officers dealing with juveniles, formation of special operations teams with knowledge of automobile theft prevention measures, reform of the unwieldy INTERPOL bureaucracy, cooperation with the prosecutor's office, special training of officers in thieves' techniques for modifying automobiles, and recordkeeping requirements for producers of duplicate car keys. Graphs show vehicle theft rates in Munich and West Germany as a whole from the late 1960's to 1976.