Each year, more that a million vehicles are stolen in the United States-about one vehicle every 23 seconds. In Tempe one vehicle is stolen every 3.5 hours. One reason is that cars are easy to steal. Even an inexperienced car thief can steal certain kinds of cars in about ten to thirty seconds. A popular misconception is that stolen cars go to Mexico.
Some cars are easy to steal.
Most of the time, when a juvenile commits his first felony crime, it is usually the theft of a car or truck. Lastly, and one of the biggest reasons, is that most victims make it easy for the auto thief to steal their car. The most frequent locations of auto theft are places where there are large numbers of cars parked, like apartments complexes and shopping centers. Eight out of the top ten locations for vehicle thefts are apartment communities. The earlier part of the week, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday was the most frequent days cars are reported stolen.