KPD part of Tri-County Auto Theft Task Force
The information in this article was recently given by the head of the Tri-County Auto Theft Force, Mansfield Police Captain Stan Davis. {{more: Continue …}}The Taskforce includes the counties of Johnson, Ellis and Tarrant and the cities of Kennedale, Mansfield and Burleson.
Facts about car thefts and car burglaries …
- as many as 65,000 cars and trucks are stolen yearly in the State of Texas and several thousand are burglarized;
- almost half of those burglarized had keys left inside, creating a crime of opportunity;
- the most common way cars get burglarized is through ?door pullers? where suspects, usually travelling on foot at night through neighborhoods, pull on car doors until they find one open but it can happen in broad daylight in store parking lots;
- a corresponding crime is firearm theft which happens when people leave firearms in a car;
- other items commonly stolen out of unlocked cars include wallets, credit card, personal IDs and cell phones;
- #1 vehicles stolen are trucks – a toss-up between Chevy and Ford pickups followed by Hondas and Toyotas trucks;
- #1 passenger car is the Honda Accord;
- 133 vehicles have been stolen and 237 burglarized this year in the Tri-County area. The thefts are valued at $700,000 and the property stolen from vehicles valued at $196,000.
- autos/cars are not the only thing stolen. The term vehicles include trailers, RVs, motorcycles and commercial vehicles;
- sports bikes are taken more often than motorcycles; and,
- in rural areas, light duty trailers are the most common vehicles stolen.
the good news …
- From September 1 through the end of January, the task force recovered 125 vehicles valued at over 1.4 million dollars;
- there has been $420,000 worth of auto/vehicle parts recovered this year; and
- truck tailgates were one of the top items stolen until two years ago when a prime perpetrator was arrested.
About the Tri-County Taskforce:
It has been in operation since September 2011, the task force is comprised of seven officers from Johnson, Ellis and Tarrant counties and one of 24 such task forces in the state specifically set up to investigate, reduce and prevent vehicle break-ins and thefts and to educate the public about a $1 billion statewide problem. In Tarrant County, the task force covers Burleson, Mansfield and Kennedale.
Mansfield took the lead on the problem back in 2009 when more than $190,000 worth of wheels and tires were stolen off trucks in the Mansfield area, according to Captain Davis. The city of Mansfield applied for a grant through the Auto Burglary and Theft Prevention Authority to form the task force and partner with police departments in Burleson and Kennedale and the Johnson County Sheriff?s Office. Funding for the program was received in 2010 funding.
Information in this article is from the Cleburne Time-Review – read more at Cleburne
Time-Review
Find out more about crime prevention techniques at Kennedale Police Department
