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Show More cars stolen during month of October, statistics reveal Has your car been stolen this year? If not, just wait a minute. In fact, it may be stolen in less than a minute (better check!)- Last year there was an auto theft in this country every 41 seconds, and in 1969 the situation shows no improvement. In contemplating the security of your family car, watch out for this month and next the fall of the year seems to be an especially active period for car thieves, studies show. Last year October wa sthe high-volume month. Approximately 777,800 vehicles ve-hicles were stolen in 1968, up 19 per cent over 1967, the National Nation-al Automobile Theft Bureau reveals in a recent compilation of "Auto Theft Facts." The study uses statistics made available in "Crime in the United Staes" the annual uniform uni-form crime report for 1968 released re-leased last month by the Federal Fed-eral Bureau of Investigation. More or less complacently, many people shrug and say, "You can expect more auto theft because there are more cars this year." But the disturbing dis-turbing fact is that auto thefts have increased in percentage per-centage at more than triple the percentage increase in registrations. regis-trations. Similarly, they have increased at more than triple the percentage increase in youths 15 to 24 years of age. More kids are stealing cars than ever before. Sixty-one per cent of those arrested for auto theft in 1968 were under 18 years of age, and 16 per cent were under 15. During the nine-year nine-year period, 1960 through 1968, juvenile arrests in the 10 to 17 age group jumped up by 71 per cent, while the number of juveniles in that age group was increasing by only 25 per cent. Fourteen per cent of the be-hicles be-hicles stolen in 1968 were never nev-er recovered. Their value has been estimated at $100 million, but this doesn't take into consideration con-sideration the damage to vehicles, ve-hicles, property and persons. One out of every 108 vehicles ve-hicles registered in 1968 was stolen. This may be compared with one out of every 123 cars registered in 1967, stolen, and one of every 141 in 1966. Records Rec-ords show that the rate has been worsening almost every year. Back in 1959 the rate was one of every 202 cars. Auto theft volume is highest in the Northeastern states, next highest in the North Central states, and next in the Western states. But the rate per 100,000 population is highest in the 1 Western states 496 vehicles stolen. In cities of half a million mil-lion to one million population, the rate was 1060 vehciles! Two-thirds of auto thefts occur at night, and over half of the thefts are from private residences, res-idences, apartments or streets in residential districts. Auto theft makes up 17 per cent of the total crime index in the United States . |