LET'S STOP BLAMING VEHICLE OWNERS FOR RISE IN THEFTS
The recent uproar over comments made at a community meeting on car theft by a member of Toronto Police Services illuminated a lot.
The comment from the constable: “To prevent the possibility of being attacked in your home, leave your fobs at the front door because they are breaking into your home to steal your car; they don't want anything else. A lot of them that they're arresting have guns on them, and they are not toy guns.”
He ominously added: “They are real guns. They're loaded.”
I'm sure every outlet was asked directly (I certainly was) by the police communications team to walk it back, water it down, add softening context — take your pick. Instead, they should have taken it head on, because it revealed the many realities that citizens in auto-theft hot spots like the GTA need to talk about — whether police want them to or not.
“In Toronto alone, more than 12,000 vehicles were stolen in 2023, a 24.4 per cent increase over the previous year. That steep jump followed a 45 per cent jump in 2022 from 2021,” reports CBC.
Car owners have been watching this stunning jump in car thefts, and have been told repeatedly the things they must do to protect their vehicles. They can be forgiven for getting frustrated and angry at words which essentially say “just give them your car.”
How many times do you have to be told to park in your garage? To park your crappy car behind your good one? To purchase pricey aftermarket systems that range from the journeyman Club steering wheel lock to tracking systems and immobilizers?
Lock your OBD port, they say. Get pedal locks, tire locks, put your key fob in a Faraday pouch, put cameras on your house, put cameras in your vehicle.
As the numbers have escalated despite owners' best attempts, there has also been a shift as car owners are pitted against each other: how can you be so stupid as to purchase a vehicle that is among those most coveted by thieves? And you replaced it with the same one? A third time?
Victims of car theft are victims. We're long past throwing shade at someone who left their vehicle idling or unlocked; that was always careless.
More terrifying for drivers is the rise in carjackings. If the only thing standing between a thief and the vehicle they want is the driver, they don't have to defeat fancy detection systems, they just have to remove the driver.
I believe this is the issue law enforcement is actually getting antsy about: the escalation of violence and the potential for people to get injured or killed.
Up until now, the focus has been on trying to prevent property theft. That constable went one step beyond “don't fight back if you're carjacked.”
Why? Because “Toronto Police say home invasions and break-and-enters for auto theft rose 400 per cent in 2023.”
In January of this year, the federal government announced Ontario police would receive
$121 million to combat the problem. In October 2023, Toronto-area police departments joined with the OPP to set up a task force to address the problem. A month later, Ontario announced $18 million in funding over three years to “to fund projects intended to fight auto theft.”
The recent auto theft summit held in Ottawa was a fizzle, with the PM “hinting” at tougher penalties. We need more than hints: “Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Thomas Carrique ... said the criminal penalties typically handed down for car theft aren't strong enough . ... Only in Ontario, we saw 68 per cent of those convicted serve a sentence of six months or less. We need to see stiffer penalties. We absolutely need to have a deterrence for these crimes.”
The Port of Montreal is porous. My colleague David Booth outlines the rules surrounding exporting vehicles here. He makes mention of the dearth of border investigators — just five officers — for the 2,100 containers that leave each day.
There is a ton of blame to go around with this issue. Manufacturers could be doing far more to protect their products — and the consumers who buy them. Law enforcement knows anyone they catch will be back on the streets in no time, meaning “hints” at tougher penalties aren't enough. Insurance companies are bearing the heat of requiring some owners to purchase aftermarket solutions, something owners see as a punishment. It is.
Task forces, millions and millions of dollars, summits, hearings — and one cop who let us know what they're the most afraid of.