BC RCMP say they have officially kicked off their alongside ICBC to generate awareness of the growing number of car thefts in the province and across Canada.
Eugene Lum of the RCMP integrated municipal provincial auto crime team says there has been a decline in auto crime since 2018 in the province when compared to the national number, but still says the number of reported incidents still needs to come down.
“For 2023 there were 7,538 vehicles that were involved in incidents where they were stolen,” he says. “We’re a lot lower than the other provinces, Ontario and Quebec have seen most of the thefts.”
Lum says awareness is just one-factor people need to make sure they’re protected against thefts, but taking proactive and preventative measures are the key to making sure their cars are secure.
“Make sure their vehicles are locked, make sure there is an immobilization device installed,” he says. “Also going back to the traditional steering wheel lock is a good idea.”
As technology advances car thieves are getting creative in their way to keep up. Lum says just because a car doesn’t have a key to start it doesn’t mean it can’t be stolen.
“They are using new technology to keep up with car manufacturers,” he says. “Thieves are using a relay attack where they steal the signal from your car fob to start and steal a newer model.”
According to the Insurance Board of Canada, auto insurers paid out over one billion dollars in 2022, three times more than was paid out in 2018.
