Motor vehicle theft
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Motor vehicle theft is a crime of theft. This is generally understood to refer to the stealing of automobiles, buses, motorcycles, snowmobiles, trucks, trailers or any other motorized vehicle legally allowed on public roads and highways, including attempted thefts; but not to aircraft, boats, motorized wheelchairs, bulldozers, and spacecraft.
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[edit] Motor vehicle theft in the US
The crime is commonly charged under the name grand theft, auto in the U.S., however, other places refer to it as simply "felony theft" or "theft over", i.e., theft over a dollar amount that exceeds misdemeanor proportions. In any case, as with other thefts, the prosecutor must usually prove that the alleged thief intended to deprive the owner of his or her property permanently. Taking a motor vehicle without consent and then abandoning it (or intending to abandon it) is known as joyriding.
In almost all jurisdictions, theft of a motor vehicle is punishable as a felony due to the extreme emotional and economic distress it causes to the victim and to society.
Colloquially, stealing a motor vehicle while it is occupied is known as carjacking, and in many legal systems is treated as a form of robbery. Another term used for car theft is boosting. Theft of a vehicle while the driver is warming it up and de-icing it may be called frosting.
To prevent vehicle theft, some statutes require drivers to stop the engine, remove the ignition key, and lock an unattended vehicle left on a public way. Failure to do so may expose the victim to a fine for a traffic code violation.
This crime, though common throughout the 20th century, has been in decline in most jurisdictions over the last decade. One big exception is the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, which has seen the number of motor-vehicle thefts increase dramatically in recent years. Prince George's County, Maryland, a nearby suburb of the US capital, had more than 18,000 cars stolen in 2004, many by juvenile car thieves, according to an investigation the Washingtonian magazine published in December 2005.
In order to deter motor vehicle theft, most jurisdictions in North America require that the vehicle identification numbers (VIN) of motor vehicles be registered with a vehicle licensing authority, making it difficult to resell a stolen vehicle or possess stolen parts. Most motor vehicle theft involves dismantling the vehicle and selling its parts which are not registered and for which there is a large market, or by moving the vehicle to another country, where the local authorities may not be linked to the same database or such protections may not be in place.
[edit] Motor vehicle theft in other countries
In central Europe, motor vehicle theft and car theft in particular are a serious problem, especially with high-priced vehicles; older cars and/or cars of lower value, however, are often just as much at risk.
In Germany, stealing motorized vehicles constitutes theft, a federal crime under the country's penal code. Sentences may vary but can be up to five years in prison if carried out systematically and in a gang-like manner. Plaintiffs may file additional charges as devised in the civil code.
Germany owes much of its reputation as a hot spot for car theft to its proximity to Eastern Europe[citation needed]. Given the high demand for regular cars and luxury vehicles and more often than not rather lax investigation of stolen goods in the eastern part of the continent, many gangs from those countries scour Germany in search for expensive or otherwise popular cars which are then quickly moved through neighboring states and on to countries such as the Baltic states, Russia, and others.[citation needed] Some will be resold while others end up stripped for parts. A second group of car thieves can be described as typically of local origin with no ties to Eastern European gangs and with the objective of quickly turning their contraband into cash without going through the trouble of moving a car to junkies and relatively small-time criminals.[citation needed]
To deter would-be car thieves, all newer vehicles are equipped with immobilisers. Most insurance companies require such a device and will deduct 10 percent of the car's replacement value after a theft if it was not installed. Additionally, VINs of stolen cars are put on police blacklists within the borders of the Schengen Agreement states.
In the UK, police forces use specialist unit to tackle vehicle crime and offenders, called Road crime units
[edit] External articles
[edit] See also
- VIN etching
- TWOC (Taken Without Owner's Consent)
- Car alarm
- Road crime unit
- Vehicle tracking system
- In popular culture, the video game series Grand Theft Auto uses car theft as a main focal point of its games.
