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Most of the Police Board’s meeting on Thursday, Mar. 30, was spent tackling one issue: auto theft.
The manufacturers sit at the top of the food chain, as Chair of the Police Board Jeff Knoll sees it, and “they can put the technology in [to stop or reduce auto thefts] for probably very little money.”
That sentiment was echoed by Halton Police Chief Steve Tanner, who added, “the cynical side of me says 27,000 cars are stolen, which means 27,000 insurance payments and 27,000 new cars sold.”
“And we all pay for them,” he remarked begrudgingly.
"The manufacturers could do it for the sake of a few dollars but they don’t because it would be an expense. They will push back on anything that will cost them money. But it would make their vehicles and customers much more safer.” - Knoll
Knoll points the finger at the federal government too. He wants them to put money into the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), so they can stop the shipping process at our borders.
Often, auto theft busts happen when authorities manage to access containers. Knoll was shocked to learn that containers "are being loaded without knowing what exactly is inside them."
"We need to be scanning containers at the port of Montreal.” - Knoll
Montreal is a common destination. Most of the car thieves arrested in Halton in the last two years hail from Montreal.
A member even chimed in about a port in Hamilton. Tanner was unsure but quickly acknowledged its “potential” to be used by criminals to ship vehicles out.
Members debated whether the burden lies on the provincial or federal government. Knoll claimed, “Regarding transportation, a lot of it is federal.”
He recalled legislation “probably 20 years ago, which required some form of theft control. But it never got updated with the technology. What they mandated at the time was great, but now with technology that has updated, they haven’t kept up with it.”
Although auto thefts have been consistently high - a 90% uptick - very few involve force or violence (i.e. carjackings).
According to Tanner, carjackings were more common a year or two ago; thieves mainly targeted Range Rover owners because they hadn’t mastered stealing them without using weapons and/or force.
“But now they can do it with technology,” he revealed.
Tanner then proceeded to outline how criminals quickly adapt and evolve their methods of stealing by utilizing technology.
The relay/reprogramming thefts the HRPS warned residents about a little while ago have already taken a backseat to more advanced techniques.
Reprogramming thefts are when a thief steals a vehicle’s fob signal while it sits on the driveway. The owner’s key is usually inside the home; the thief copies that signal onto a different fob by being close to the house, and then they drive off with the stolen vehicle.
This method now only makes up 20% of auto thefts.
“The vast majority, now, are taking over the car’s computer system.” - Tanner
Tanner claims that it used to cost around $300K for some of the technology used to steal cars. Now, you can “buy something online for $200 or $400.”
Today, criminals eye diagnostic ports. Many vehicles have a port that mechanics can plug into to run a diagnostics test. Car thieves have now figured out a way to plug into that port, effectively "telling the car that their key is now the vehicle’s new key; the car then believes them, and they drive the car away.”
