Statistics show that the number of vehicles stolen per year has dropped by 14 percent across Oregon; however, a few cities are still experiencing high numbers.
The report comes from the National Insurance Crime Bureau’s annual Hot Spots for 2009, which rates crime activity by cities and states. Eugene is the highest-ranked Oregon city when it comes to stolen vehicles. Last year, the city had a total of 1,348 cars reported stolen. Corvallis, by comparison, only had 70. Portland and Salem were the only other Oregon cities to make the top 100 list in the nation.
Population differences can account for the large disparity. When looking at the theft rate, Eugene has about 384 vehicles stolen per 100,000 inhabitants. Corvallis only had 85 per 100,000.
“The more people in a city, the easier it is to blend in and hide,” said Sgt. Vonn Schleicher of the Oregon State Police. “That can be very appealing to criminals.”
Schleicher said that proximity to the interstate can also make a city more susceptible to crime, given the high level of traffic and ease of moving on.
Even with a decrease around the state, Schleicher says that the number of stolen vehicles around campus remains fairly consistent.
“Criminals do target university campuses,” Schleicher said. “One of the things that attracts criminals here is that the student population usually has older cars.”
There were a total of 12 vehicles stolen on campus in 2008, according to the annual crime report released by the Department of Public Safety.
“Car break-ins and stolen vehicles has been a problem on campus,” Schleicher said. “Even with a decline (across the state), it is still a problem.”
The cars targeted by thieves most often are the Honda Civic and Accord and the Toyota Camry, which are common vehicles for students to own.
“There is a pretty big market for Honda parts, which entices many car thieves,” Schleicher said. “Toyotas tend to be susceptible to shaved keys.”
Shaving keys is a technique used by car thieves where the key is filed down so that it can be used in several cars.
Officials offer advice about how to avoid becoming a victim of vehicle theft. The tips include always making sure car doors are locked, installing a car alarm or other anti-theft device and keeping valuables out of sight in the car.
“College students have laptops, GPS’ and iPods, which can be quickly taken from a car and then pawned or resold,” Schleicher said. “We try to educate the campus, but we still have students that leave these items out in the open.”