Lost and found

Teaming up in Pittsburgh to recover stolen cars

In 2013, Pittsburgh police recovered 34 percent of the 676 vehicles reported stolen in the city, well above the national average of 12 percent. The results are surprising because police have been working with one hand tied behind their backs.

The police bureau maintains a list of stolen cars, trucks and motorcycles. At the same time, the Pittsburgh Parking Authority keeps a list of vehicles that have had mechanical boots attached to them because they’ve been illegally parked in residential areas — some of them, no doubt, stolen and abandoned. But police officers don’t have access to the authority’s information, and the authority doesn’t have a list of stolen cars and trucks.

City Councilman Dan Gilman wants to fix that. A resolution he introduced last week, if approved, would authorize the mayor, the police chief and the public safety director to enter into a cooperative agreement with the parking authority. The thinking is that, if the agencies can share information, they should be able to find more stolen vehicles. The data sharing also could help with enforcement of other violations, locating wanted persons or other police matters.

It’s hard to understand why the police and the parking authority weren’t already sharing such basic information but, now that the gap has been pointed out, council can close it and give police another tool to help find stolen property and reunite it with the owners.