(TheLastPatriotNews.com) – In new evidence that the Biden-Harris administration has failed miserably in tackling rising criminal activity, motor vehicle thefts have surged to their highest point since 2007, as detailed in the FBI’s latest release of national crime statistics.
This rise to a level previously seen 16 years ago is noted in the FBI Uniform Crime Report (UCR) for 2023.
Despite this upward trend, there has been a reduction in other areas of violent and property crime, though the report’s coverage may be incomplete as many U.S. agencies did not contribute data, The Daily Caller reports.
According to the UCR summary, the national rate of motor vehicle theft reached 318.7 thefts per 100,000 residents in 2023, slightly higher than the 317.7 per 100,000 recorded in 2007.
This recent increase also marks a notable shift, being only the second time since 2004 that motor vehicle theft rates have exceeded burglary rates, with the previous instance occurring in 2022.
The cost of car insurance also reflected these trends, with a significant increase in August 2023—prices rose by 19.1% compared to the same period the previous year.
Larger cities, particularly those with populations exceeding one million, experienced a 29.2% rise in motor theft incidents, while cities with populations between 250,000 and 499,999 saw a 25.8% increase.
In response to these rising theft rates, the city of Chicago took legal action against car manufacturers Kia and Hyundai in 2023.
The lawsuit accused the companies of failing to include necessary anti-theft technology, which allegedly led to increased vehicle thefts, reckless driving, and related violent crimes in the city.
This year, Chicago reported both a peak in motor vehicle thefts and a record low in related arrests, as per the Illinois Policy Institute.
Reporting rates for motor vehicle thefts have declined, with only 72% of thefts reported in 2023, down from 81% the previous year, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) released in September.
This survey, which assesses unreported crimes by polling crime victims directly, showed an increase in motor vehicle thefts from 5.5 per 1,000 to 6.1 per 1,000 from 2022 to 2023, mirroring the trend observed in the UCR data.
The majority of these thefts occurred at residential locations and on public streets, a separate FBI report on motor vehicle theft noted in August.
The incidence of juvenile offenders involved in these crimes also rose, from 11.9 per 100,000 in 2022 to 16.16 in 2023.
It is important to note that the FBI UCR does not encompass all reported crimes from every U.S. department and agency. In 2023, 85.2% of agencies participated, an increase from 83.3% in 2022.
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