Drive at Your Own Risk

The crime rate in Vancouver is in general pretty low for a major world city; however, the greater Vancouver area is one of the world's capitals for auto theft. In fact, the nearby town of Surrey is considered the "car theft capital of North America." Therefore, you are planning on visiting Vancouver or the surrounding areas and driving a rental car while you're here, be sure your doors are locked and windows are closed (not even vented) and that you leave no valuables in the car, even if they're out of sight. Do not do the popular Michigan thing of leaving your car running while you go into a gas station or whatever, even if you're only away from it for 2 seconds and it is still in view. These people are ruthless, and I have an aquantience who recently fell victum to their evil ways.

Jeff just told me a story about this guy who was charged with around 70 counts of auto theft. In spite of this, he still drove a stolen car to his court hearing and got caught again. Apparently, most of the stolen cars are used just for a single trip. The thief pilfers the car, drives from point A to point B, and then abandons it. Once he/she wants to go somewhere else, they steal another car, and the cycle starts again--steal, drive, abandon; steal, drive, abandon. Jeff said this is largely due to the crappy public transportation system in Vancouver. Going from point A to point B in a car is considerably quicker than going the same distance in a bus. A lot of big cities have this problem, but it is especially bad in Vancouver.

Luckily, in an effort to reduce auto theft in the Vancouver area, a "Bait Car" program was launched by the Integrated Municipal Provincial Auto Crime Team (IMPACT) in 2002. The program actually originated in Minneopolis in the mid-90's, and it continues to be one of the most successful auto theft prevention programs in the world. The Vancouver program has been extremely successful as well, reducing car theft by 71% since 2002. 71%!

The "Bait Cars" are kind of used like an undercover cop who dresses up like a prostitute to attract solicitors and then arrests them. GPS tracking, microphones and video cameras are installed in the car as well as a remote control system that is used to disable the engine. Once the thief drives away, the police are alerted immediately. They then disable the engine and lock the doors, trapping the thief inside. Police usually leave the car in an unattended parking lot, with the doors unlocked and with valuables visible. Sometimes they even leave the keys in the ignition to make things easier for the thief.

I originally intended this blog to just be a warning and not some sort of research article, but I came across this information when researching auto theft rates in Vancouver and thought it was interesting. Anyways, it's nice to know that progress is being made in the Vancouver area to prevent auto theft, but you should still take great care to secure your car while visiting.