Illustration by Andy Zapata
Ask around about car theft in Seattle and it seems everyone has a story. King County ranked sixth-worst in the nation for vehicle theft in 2005, with one out of every 200 cars expected to be stolen.
"I have huge issues with this problem because my car has been stolen twice," says Nicole Greer, a University of Washington student who lived in Fremont in 2007 when her car went missing. "I lived six blocks from (state Route) 99, and all the cops said was that that's a high criminal area for car theft. I was like, 'Half the city lives off 99.' "
Since 2005, the number of cars stolen in Seattle has plummeted by nearly 60 percent, due primarily to the creation of the Car Theft Initiative (CTI) Unit, a partnership between the King County Prosecutor's Office and area police departments that targets the most prolific car thieves.
Cracking down
- A few more ways in which area police are tracking and preventing car thefts:
- The Elizabeth Nowak-Washington Auto Theft Prevention Act. The 2007 bill increased prison time for car thieves and made sentencing more severe.
- Bait cars. Specially designed cars lure would-be thieves to steal a vehicle, then shut down and lock them inside.
- License plate scanner. A device similar to a radar gun can scan an entire parking lot for stolen vehicles in minutes.
There are also steps car owners can take to deter thieves and protect their pricey investments.
"It's a small player in reducing theft," Kay Godefroy says about The Club. As executive director of the Seattle Neighborhood Group, Godefroy and her organization distribute the steering wheel locks at community meetings and offer them for sale online. The move is part of the group's effort to educate the public on protecting their vehicles by taking simple measures such as removing valuables and locking the doors.
Greer bought a Club look-alike for her car to use as a deterrent. "It doesn't even have a lock on it," she says. "But (the car) hasn't been stolen since."
A more high-tech measure of protection is VIN etching -- a method of chemically engraving an automobile's identification number into its windows. VIN etching makes it nearly impossible for thieves to sell cars to chop shops, which don't want parts that are easily traceable. The VIN-etching process takes 15 minutes and costs about $20 at shops such as Vinprint in Mill Creek.
More high-tech still are security systems such as GPS-guided OnStar, which is available in most new General Motors vehicles, and LoJack, a $695 hidden device that activates a radio signal that is picked up by police patrol units once the car has been reported stolen. Vehicles with these types of systems are usually found within 24 hours, police say.
Kay Godefroy, Seattle Neighborhood Group executive director, displays The Club, which the group sells. (Cody Ellerd Bay)
Law enforcement also is using new technologies and better communication to reduce car theft. Through the CTI Unit, information from more than 60 agencies is funneled into a central location, and information that was not previously exchanged is being shared.
The result? In 2005, 17,700 cars were reported stolen in King County, according to the Prosecutor's Office. By the end of 2009, that number had dropped to 7,700.
Through such efforts, officials hope cases like Chris Scott's become a thing of the past. The former First Hill resident's Subaru Legacy was stolen from the garage of his apartment building in 2002. He didn't see it again until nearly two years later, when it was found abandoned in Everett.
"Before, we only knew what was going on in front of us at the time," says Shaya Calvo, unit chair of the CTI. "We didn't have a bigger picture throughout the county."
As for protecting his current car, Scott doesn't take any extra precautions. "I actually want it to get stolen," he says. "There are too many miles on it."
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