Chapter 5: Insurance-Related Crimes
1996-1998 Ohio Motor Vehicle Thefts by Selected Cities
 
In 1998, the estimated direct loss in Ohio attributed to cars that were stolen and never recovered approached $91 million.
Determining economic losses

According to FBI Uniform Crime Reports, an estimated 65% of the autos stolen in 1998 were recovered. Based on this stolen recovery rate, 35% of vehicles stolen are not recovered. The FBI also estimates that the unrecovered stolen autos had an average value of $6,030. Thus, to obtain the "Direct Losses of Unrecovered Vehicles" estimates, 35% of the number of motor vehicle thefts for a given city was multiplied by the average dollar amount ($6,030) to obtain the estimate.

These computations do not take into consideration the following costs:

  • Damage to stolen recovered vehicles
  • Law enforcement
  • Court administration
  • Injuries
  • Damage to other property
1996-1998 Ohio Motor Vehicle Thefts by Selected Cities
CITY Number of Thefts by Year1 % Change
97-98		 1998
Motor
Vehicle
Registrations 2		 1998
Ratio of
Thefts to
Vehicles		 Direct Losses of Unrecovered Vehicles
1996 1997 1998
Akron 2,033 1,976 3 1,357 3 -31.3 193,501 1 in 143 $2,864,250
Canton 807 703 546 -22.3 84,274 1 in 154 1,151,730
Cincinnati 1,822 2,098 3 2,164 3.1 248,165 1 in 115 4,564,710
Cleveland 8,629 7,331 7,206 -1.7 317,916 1 in 44 15,207,660
Columbus 7,610 7,118 7,343 3.2 667,252 1 in 91 15,497,100
Dayton 3,236 3,120 3,437 10.2 158,068 1 in 46 7,254,090
Elyria 132 3 103 3 117 3 13.6 55,693 1 in 476 247,230
Euclid 340 259 283 9.3 42,298 1 in 149 596,970
Hamilton 412 310 381 22.9 54,156 1 in 142 801,990
Lima 143 121 171 41.3 36,995 1 in 216 361,800
Lorain 147 174 147 -15.5 58,902 1 in 401 307,530
Mansfield 200 186 158 -15.1 57,140 1 in 362 331,650
Parma 273 3 184 3 181 3 -1.6 76,367 1 in 422 379,890
Springfield 477 453 464 2.4 52,132 1 in 112 976,860
Toledo 3,038 3,054 3,409 11.6 280,243 1 in 82 7,193,790
Warren 290 3 234 3 138 3 -41.0 41,523 1 in 301 289,440
Youngstown 1,066 837 845 1.0 71,914 1 in 85 1,784,880
Statewide 45,528 45,419 43,021 -5.3 11,399,641 1 in 265 $90,793,710
Sources:
1 FBI Uniform Crime Reports, 1996-1998
2 Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles
3 City not listed in FBI Uniform Crime Reports. Number supplied to OII in survey of city police departments.
Auto theft numbers continued to decline in 1999. But pickup trucks are a growing target, with thefts of these vehicles increasing 52% between 1998-99.
(CCC Information Services, Chicago, IL)