Gazette - “Auto Theft Capital” no more

BEST PRACTICE

Targeting prolific offenders in Surrey, B.C.

By Carly Paice
Communicatons and media relations
Surrey RCMP

Courtesy of Surrey RCMP
Surrey’s Auto Crime Target Team hit the target with this suspect sporting a Grand Theft Auto tattoo on his back. The suspect pleaded guilty and received a 26-month jail sentence.

Until recently, Surrey, British Columbia, was known as the “Auto Theft Capital” of North America — a label that was quick to catch on but slow to fade. In 2003 alone, 8,105 vehicles were reported stolen, a 120 per cent increase from four years earlier, giving Surrey one of the highest per capita auto theft rates in Canada.

Among other factors, the emergence and increased usage of “crystal meth” was partly to blame for this sharp increase. Most vehicles were recovered, with over 90 per cent eventually turning up. But of concern to police was the time period in between the theft and the recovery. This time frame generally allowed for a combination of other crimes to be committed by the auto thieves: robberies, drug dealing, break and enters, and dangerous driving often resulting in fatal collisions or serious injuries.

In spring 2004, Surrey RCMP embarked on a new crime-reduction initiative focusing on reducing auto theft and property crime through the identification and targeting of prolific offenders. Two target teams — the Auto Crime Target Team and the Property Crime Target Team — were created to direct efforts toward the small percentage of offenders accounting for a disproportionately large number of crimes.

Strategies

Part of the new approach involved building and expanding on key partnerships. This meant police worked more closely with the Correctional Service of Canada, provincial corrections and probation services, the Integrated Municipal Provincial Auto Crime Team (IMPACT) and the Surrey Crime Prevention Society.

In consultation with Crown counsel, police prepared a template incorporating the elements required for a bail hearing. In addition, all requests for information from Crown counsel were received in a timely fashion and were immediately taken on by a Target Team member.

Technology also played an important role in the installation and use of tracking devices in stolen vehicles. With members of the Target Teams trained in how to use the equipment, they made a number of high-profile arrests directly as a result of the devices. The teams also developed a more co-ordinated approach to checking the vehicles for fingerprints by immediately following up on any incidences of multiple hits by an offender.

Crime analysis

As part of the ongoing strategy to combat auto theft, the Surrey RCMP’s Crime Analysis Unit was expanded in 2005 to a strength of five. The mapping analyst, responsible for identifying “hot spots,” crime trends and predictive analyses, played a key role in identifying where vehicles were being stolen and dumped. This helped to guide operations and ensure strategic deployment of resources.

For example, in fall 2006, the mapping analyst identified a trend where several stolen vehicles of the same make were being dumped and recovered by police in a small area of the city. The Target Teams were concentrating their efforts in this hot spot when they noticed a shirtless man with a large tattoo on his back that read “Grand Theft Auto” walking in the area. Members of the Target Teams observed the man steal a car of the same make identified in the trend by the analyst. The 27-year-old man was arrested, charged and remanded to custody. He pleaded guilty and received a 26-month jail sentence.

Results

By implementing the Target Teams, developing key partnerships and strengthening the Crime Analysis Unit, auto theft decreased in Surrey by 38 per cent from 2003 to 2006. Furthermore, out of the 737 arrest and surveillance operations from April 2004 to December 2006, 100 per cent of charges recommended to the Crown were approved, with an 87 per cent remand success rate (95 per cent of the cases resulted in guilty pleas).

Members of the Auto Crime and Property Crime Target Teams were proud to accept the 2007 International Vehicle Theft Award of Merit, presented by the International Association of Chiefs of Police in New Orleans, Louisiana, on October 16, 2007.