NYC car thefts fall in 2024 after years of steady climb

After climbing steadily for the last five years, car thefts in New York City dipped this year, partly because some drivers and car manufacturers learned how to protect their keyless cars from thieves, according to industry experts and NYPD data.

But they added that car theft is far from behind us, and reports of car theft remain at their second highest level in 18 years, according to NYPD statistics.

“Thankfully, it's starting to decrease,” said Kevin Gallagher, a board member for New York Anti-Car Theft & Fraud Association, an insurance industry group. “That's always good news.”

Car thefts were at their highest in the 1990s and early 2000s, before the advent of modern security features. At that time there were 30,000 to 40,000 car thefts a year, according to NYPD data.

After that, there was a steady 20-year decline, and in 2018 car thefts reached a low of about 5,100 per year, according to NYPD data.

Since then, car thefts in New York City have shot up again, mirroring national trends. Gallagher said the growing popularity of key fobs is the big reason, and thefts often happen when people leave their key fobs in or near their cars. Gradually though, several different efforts to prevent car theft have worked, industry experts said.

This year so far, car thefts in the city are down about 9% over the same period last year, with 13,000 reported stolen cars, NYPD data show. That’s still more than double the number of stolen cars five years ago, but the trend is moving in the right direction, Gallagher said.

Car thefts have declined dramatically at all of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's facilities, including its airports. The agency said car thefts are down 33% so far this year compared to all of 2023 with two weeks left in the year. The agency credits automatic license plate readers as one tool that has been working.

Gallagher said that law enforcement agencies around the region launched large investigations and several innovative campaigns last year that worked, including shooting GPS darts on speeding cars and creating traffic jams to nab fleeing thieves.

Law enforcement agencies also made arrests in relation to what they said were some sweeping car theft rings.

“We’ve had some investigations that were able to prosecute some organized vehicle theft rings and couple that with the education for the public,” Gallagher said.

The American Automobile Association said one continuing problem is that many modern cars don’t actually turn off, but “go to sleep” when a driver’s key fobs are still near the car.

AAA spokesperson Robert Sinclair said that means that if a car’s key fob is even near a vehicle, the car may start if a thief gets in it and pushes the ignition button.

Sinclair also said there have been improvements to make stealing cars more difficult. Hyundai and Kia rolled out software fixes this year that helped close vulnerabilities that went viral on social media, which officials said contributed to the car theft craze.

”They even have a sticker that you can put in your window to indicate that you have that software update, and it'd probably be more difficult to steal that vehicle,” he said.

Sinclair said drivers should resist the temptation to leave their cars unattended and idling while they warm up during cold weather.

”For the sake of having a warm vehicle when you get inside, it's not worth it. Most vehicles warm up very quickly these days,” he said.