Norwich-NL metro sees fewer car thefts in 2017

Crime bureau data indicate car robberies are up nationally

While vehicle thefts rose nationwide for the third straight year in 2017, National Insurance Crime Bureau data show the New London-Norwich metropolitan area saw a 1.6 percent decrease.

The area, which includes all of New London County, had 233 thefts last year compared to 237 the year before.

In its report, the crime bureau said vehicle theft was up 4.1 percent across the country. The agency said earlier this year that increasingly expensive car parts could be to blame.

Though many stolen vehicles are older models with fewer security features, the 2016 Toyota Camry, 2015 Nissan Altima and 2015 Toyota Corolla landed on the bureau’s 2016 top 10 list of most stolen vehicles.

Many stolen vehicles are missing key parts when they’re recovered, the crime bureau said on its website, while others are dismantled and sold piece by piece, never to be recovered.

“For the professional theft ring, stealing and stripping vehicles for parts has always been a lucrative business,” bureau Senior Vice President and COO Jim Schweitzer said in a news release. “On today’s cars and trucks, the parts are often worth more than the intact vehicle and may be easier to move and sell.”

Despite the recent increase, car theft still is down from its peak in 1991, when 1,661,738 cars were stolen. Data for 2017 aren’t yet available, but in 2016, 765,484 cars were stolen.

The bureau said smart keys and other improved anti-theft technology are “worthless if drivers continue to leave their keys in the car or leave their vehicles running, unattended, while they make a quick stop at a convenience store.”

“Vehicle owners must guard against complacency and remember to heed simple tips to safeguard their vehicles,” the bureau said.

New London police Capt. Brian Wright offered additional tips, including parking in welllit areas, rolling up the windows and removing technology and technology mounts from plain sight.

Wright said New London saw 101 of the county’s 233 car thefts in 2017 and has handled 46 so far this year.

Data from Norwich, the county’s largest city, weren’t immediately available.

Car theft continued to plague the state this summer, with Salem and Colchester officials alerting residents to a rash of the crimes in July and state police doing the same in a Wednesday Facebook post.

“Over the past few months, the Connecticut State Police (have) investigated countless reports of vehicles that have been burglarized and vehicles that have been stolen,” police wrote, asking the public to remove keys and valuables from their vehicles and to lock their doors.

The state’s other metropolitan areas — Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk and New Haven-Milford — routinely see more car thefts than the Norwich-New London metro area.

However, they still come in below hundreds of other metropolitan areas in other states, as Undersecretary for Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Mike Lawlor noted in a Monday tweet.

“This year CT continues (its) low rate of theft,” he wrote. “Check it out.”