Stop! Thief! |
| If you want to protect your car, it's time to think like a thief
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| Toronto Star
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| News |
| Donna Laporte |
| 2/12/00 |
| Stop! Thief! If you want to protect your car, it's time to think like a thief If you want to reduce the chances of your car being stolen, think like a thief. The easier you make it for someone to take your car, the more likely it will happen. Maybe you leave your briefcase on the seat, or your cellphone. Or, having experienced break-ins before, you no longer lock the doors, figuring at least someone won't smash a window next time. If you don't shape up, your car might be one of the 40.5 per cent of vehicles never recovered by the Toronto Police Service, according to Det. Const. Mark Barkley of the auto squad. Car theft, Toronto's other underground economy, is growing. Its entrepreneurs are organized crime gangs. And they're hiring. It's piecework, but steady, if a little risky. Job description: steal to order. Pay: up to $3,000 - cash, of course. Car theft cost the Canadian insurance industry $1 billion in 1998, of which Ontario accounted for $200 million. You pay in the form of increased premiums - an average of $42.84 per insured vehicle in Canada, based on 1996 figures from the Vehicle Information Centre of Canada. And in Toronto, while the number of car thefts has risen more than 33 per cent from 1991 to 1998, police say recovery rates are falling: from 91 per cent in 1991 to 59.5 per cent last year. Those figures tell only part of the story. A common misperception, Barkley says, is that joyriders accounted for the recovered car. A more likely scenario is that they've stolen the car to commit another crime, such as a break-in, armed robbery or drug deal. Or they've been recruited by an organized gang. If they get caught, youth is on their side. (Across Canada, 43 per cent of those charged with vehicle theft in 1996 were 12 to 17 years old.) When the crime is viewed as joyriding, courts lean toward light sentences. But calling it joyriding decriminalizes theft, Barkley says, adding that the auto squad refuses to use that term. It's a criminal act, with serious consequences. Maybe the car has been involved in a high-speed chase resulting in death of the occupants, or of an innocent victim. A recovered car doesn't mean a whole car, either. It may be missing major parts, which are sold to ``chop shops,'' unscrupulous body shops that then have a supply to use on legitimate cars. If your car is several years old, and hasn't been recovered, unless you have actual-value replacement insurance, you'll get only the current, depreciated, market value. As anti-theft devices grow in popularity, thieves are getting bolder, especially with luxury cars. ``As vehicles become more difficult to steal by the conventional methods, thieves will have to find new and innovative ways of stealing them,'' Barkley says. They'll break into homes to steal your car keys hanging by the door, or lying in a dish. Or they'll tow your car right out of your driveway. ``No vehicle is theft-proof,'' Barkley says emphatically. ``Any vehicle on the road today can be stolen - any vehicle. You can have the most sophisticated anti-theft system, tracking system . . . but I can back up with a tow truck and take it.'' A more frightening trend is car-jacking; 85 incidents were reported in Toronto in 1999. Where do stolen cars go? Into containers, shipped overseas. Or into the classified ads, where unsuspecting buyers are the next victims. Here's how it works: Thieves take the Vehicle Identification Number from a vehicle that's been wrecked and written off. They steal a car of the same year, make and model, transfer the VIN to the stolen vehicle, masking its identity, then re-register it in another province and perhaps sell it in a third jurisdiction. One of the operators may place an ad in the paper, but won't meet you at home - the line might be that they're moving, or it's the mother's car (she won't be there, either). They'd like cash, too. Even if you've checked the vehicle's identity using the Ontario transportation ministry's Used Vehicle Information Package, you may only be confirming the fake identity, especially if it came from another province. A new insurance industry national database set up by the Insurance Crime Prevention Bureau, a division of the Insurance Council of Canada, aims to help. For $9.95, billed to a credit card, consumers can log on at http://www.icpb.ca and punch in the VIN. You can see whether the car has been reported stolen or has been in an accident or even written off. If it's said to have been in a crash but your mechanic finds no evidence of damage, you've likely got a re-VINed vehicle. More than 1 million VINs have been logged so far. So how do you hang on to your car in the first place? Common sense is the cheapest deterrent; you'd be amazed how many people overlook the simplest precautions. Leaving doors unlocked gives a thief about two seconds' grace. Gas receipts with credit card numbers or insurance documents in the glove box may give him enough information to impersonate you. Don't leave keys inside the car, even in your own garage. Remote starters should only be used with doors locked. Don't leave the car running - and keep an eye on it. On a police ``wish list'' is a change to the Highway Traffic Act that would impose a fine to anyone who leaves a car running unattended. Park in a well-lit area and turn your wheels to the side to make it harder to tow. Back a rear-wheel drive car into the driveway or garage. Set the emergency brake. Drop business cards inside doors to assist with identification in the event it's stolen. On the highway, drive in the centre lane to reduce the chance of bump-and-run thieves or carjackers. If you're targeted, drive to the nearest police station or a public place. If you are carjacked, do not resist. Always put personal safety first. Gadgets to deter thieves range from inexpensive, low-tech items to sophisticated tracking devices worth thousands. Barkley says you should tailor any options to your budget and the worth of the car. A layered approach is best, he says, using both visible and invisible deterrents. Visible items include things like steering wheel locks, gearshift locks, tire/wheel locks, hood locks and even a steering column collar, flashing lights hooked to alarms. Invisible deterrents include immobilizers - especially those with a three-point kill system, disabling the ignition, fuel supply and starter. The VICC approves of these factory-installed anti-theft systems: Ford Securilock, DaimlerChrysler Sentry Key, Nissan Immobilizer, Honda Immobilizer (Generations I and II). PFK Autowatch 329 Ti is the only aftermarket system approved. Costa Kaskavaltzis, manager of automotive engineering and research at VICC, says immobilizers meet the minimum standard for VICC approval, because they arm automatically and prevent the car from being driven away. VICC recommends a 25 per cent insurance reduction in comprehensive risk rates of cars with approved immobilizers. There are so many types of security devices, Kaskavaltzis likens the current situation to the Wild West. The VICC is working with insurance companies to register the VINs of individual cars equipped with immobilizers, to determine their effectivenss. As for tracking systems, he says they're an added layer of protection, but cites privacy concerns, in that the vehicle's position could be monitored at all times. Monthly costs add up, he adds, and what if the company goes out of business? No matter what method you use, the thieves are already one step ahead. Derek Lee, managing director of Mobile Dynamics Installation Schools, has been teaching proper installation of anti-theft devices for the past nine years at his Richmond Hill-based business. He says a professional thief quickly learns how to defeat a factory system by renting each manufacturer's vehicle. After figuring out the system, ``he can now steal 10,000 cars.'' Aftermarket systems are better, he suggests, because each is tailored to the owner's needs. If installed in addition to the factory model, they're almost unbeatable, he says. (Installers are taught to put devices in different places each time.) Threats to public safety are reduced if the stolen car isn't driven away. Lee agrees that layering is best, because you don't know which type of thief is stealing your car. If Lee were protecting his own car, he'd use a combination of an aftermarket immobilizer, an alarm (to protect contents), keeping thieves out, and a Boomerang cellular-based tracking device. The Boomerang, he says, not only tracks cars even when they're towed but often leads police to the chop shop where several other stolen cars are being dismantled. (In Quebec, ING Commerce Group, Quebec's leading general insurer, requires a vehicle tracking device on some makes and models. Quebec has the highest loss cost per vehicle for vehicle theft, the VICC reports.) Lee says you can equip your car with those protection systems for around $1,000, installed. It sounds expensive, but if your car is worth a lot, it's preventive insurance. Owing to the plethora of anti-theft systems, and lack of statistical data as to their worth, insurance companies offer varying rate breaks. Window and parts etching is another alternative, but if your car is going overseas, it won't help. Kits cost $89.95. Call 905-634-4006 or contact CAA, which also distributes them. NavLynx Technologies Inc. has taken tracking systems one step further. Not only did the company recently track a Chrysler Intrepid stolen from a Thrifty car rental lot in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, it shut the vehicle down using a hidden Global Positioning System, enabling the OPP to quickly apprehend the suspects. With an average rental car costing $25,000 or more, Bunn says, and with about 200,000 rental cars in Canada, there's a lot at stake. For now, the technology, marketed under the name TripGuard, costs about $2,000, plus a monthly monitoring fee of $25 to $30 - and only large fleets currently qualify. Alpine Electronics' Mobile Mayday system, which sells for about $1,400 installed (plus a monthly fee), is also GPS-based, with a live body at the other end of the call button. It, too, can track and disable a stolen car as well as find a restaurant or unlock your doors if you've locked yourself out. In the end, affixing a brightly coloured decal, available free to anyone from the CAA, could go a long way toward diverting thieves. Under the program (called CAT for Combat Auto Theft) people who normally don't drive between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. put the decal on the vehicle's rear window. It allows police to stop the driver during those hours to ensure the car hasn't been stolen. CAA spokesperson Nick Ferris says that, according to the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, vehicles with the decals experienced 45 per cent fewer thefts than those without. FOR MORE INFORMATION The Toronto Police Service and the Insurance Crime Prevention Bureau will have a joint booth on crime prevention at the Toronto auto show and encourage the public to drop by. |
| BoomerangŪ is a registered trademark of Boomerang Tracking Inc. It's headquarters are located in Montreal, Quebec. Boomerang products are sold and distributed in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and in the Dominican Republic. Boomerang Tracking Inc. shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) under the trading symbol "BMG". |