Car thefts down in 2010 nationally, across Savannah

Bucking national trends, Savannah’s car thieves prefer later-model vehicles with the keys already in them.
Rounding out the city’s list of the most stolen cars in 2010 are the 2011 Toyota Tundra, the 2003 Chevrolet Silverado and the 2007 Ford Taurus, according to Savannah-Chatham police.
On the national level, Asian automakers held the top three spots, with models from the early to mid 1990s appearing most often, but this year the remainder of the top 10 consisted mostly of American brands, which is unusual, said Frank Scafidi, a spokesman for the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
He couldn’t say why exactly thieves shifted to domestic producers this year, but Honda and Toyota typically own the list because they own the streets, he explained.
“There’s just so many of them out there,” he said, adding the top 10 changes by location, depending on the tastes of the car owners and criminals who live there.
Thieves typically go for earlier models because they assume older cars won’t come equipped with security, but the majority of thefts in Savannah result from people leaving their keys somewhere in the automobile, said Julian Miller, metro police spokesman. Savannah’s car thieves are an opportunistic bunch, seizing vehicles when the keys are visible or after discovering a spare set during a break-in, he added.
“These guys aren’t stripping Maseratis and selling the parts overseas,” he said. “You see a car with keys in it, and you’ve got a car.”
William Hopkins III of Ardsley Park recently fell victim to exactly this when someone made off with his truck in the night. He said he accidentally left the vehicle unlocked with a set of keys resting in the console.
“The whole thing’s my fault,” he said. “I have no one to blame but myself.”
Nationally, car thefts dropped off sharply in 2010, and the same held true for Savannah, though the reason may differ, Miller said.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau credits improved technology from manufacturers, but Miller attributes the decline from 1,135 to 624 largely to Police Chief Willie Lovett’s decision to transfer greater control to precinct captains who know their area more intimately.
“His concept was you can’t have a cookie-cutter approach to crime,” he said. “You have specific issues in specific areas and they need specific tactics to address them.”
With 394 auto thefts so far this year, 2011 has largely mirrored the success of 2010, when the city posted 358 at this point.
The city’s central precinct, which runs from just west of Abercorn Extension at West 59th Street eastward to the Victory Manor neighborhood, has experienced the most auto thefts annually for many years running.
The islands precinct, which includes many east Savannah neighborhoods in addition to Wilmington Island, finished second twice in the past three years.
Miller said the problem is simple: Although the central and island precincts contain pockets of affluence, they’re also home to some of the most economically depressed areas in Savannah.
The Edgemore-Sackville neighborhood had to fight hard for the gains it made around the time in 2010 when auto theft rates improved, said Joan Williams, a former president of the neighborhood association who stepped down in 2010 after serving for nine years