So far this year there have been 144 occurrences of theft from a motor vehicle in Junction City. Police Chief John Lamb has compared that number with the pre-COVID 2019 year when there were 55 thefts from motor vehicles at this point in the year. Compared to 2019 there has been a 171% increase in theft from motor vehicles this year.
Lamb did report, however, that theft from motor vehicles is a part one property crime alongside other crimes such as burglary, shoplifting, theft from a building and motor vehicle theft. Comparing the numbers of this entire category from 2019 to 2021 there has been an overall decrease of three percent in those crimes.
Lamb noted that while the crime of theft from a motor vehicle has increased, overall there is less property crime this year compared to the last normal year that occurred.
JCPD has made several arrests recently, and those individuals are suspected of committing a large number of these thefts. October has the highest number of thefts in 2021 but those arrests were made at the end of the month. November is on track to have less than half the number of thefts from motor vehicles compared to October.
Through all the cases officers worked this year, 95% of all the vehicle that fell victim to thefts were left unlocked. Police are advising the community to double-check to ensure that you have locked your vehicle. They also recommend that people not leave valuable items visible in their cars, such as phones, wallets, purses or money.
JCPD is working with their crime analyst to identify patterns, series and trends when it comes to this and other crimes to develop plans to increase patrol and awareness. Through the analysis of crime it appears the thefts occurred all over the community, but in 95% of the cases, the victim's vehicle was left unlocked. JCPD is focusing on increasing patrol in areas where cars were recently victimized.