This class of car thief is the most dangerous because they are usually heavily armed and are not concerned with our welfare. How Often Does Carjacking Occur National carjacking statistics are not available. The biggest problem of tracking carjacking incidents is current police agency reporting practices. Most criminal codes have not adopted this new crime type nor do they track it statistically. Most police jurisdictions charge the crime of carjacking as a robbery since force or fear was used to steal the vehicle directly for the owner.
Some jurisdictions charge the crime of carjacking as only an auto theft since a vehicle was stolen.
Since the crime of carjacking is not indexed in the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports, it is unlikely that we will soon see a national statistic on frequency that is generated from police reports. What we have to work with is the NCVS telephone survey as the source of our data. Between 1992-1996 the NCVS learned that each year 49,000 carjackings and attempts occur in the United States. About half of the reported carjackings were failed attempts. Unfortunately, this statistic tells us that carjackers must be armed to be taken seriously by victims.