Show Criminal Uses Auto As Tool To hardened criminals a stolen automobile is a tool of trade Dally und rw o 0 r rId 1 d gangs and hoodlums resort to and rely on stolen motor ye ve- hides letes far or deception and escape escape es es- cape In the perpetration o of major majOl crimes Auto Auto theft rings many with border to border operations ate are a a rev reo curving menace netting huge profits for or commerCial car ear earU U thieves eves TIlE THE EXTENT o of the auto theft thelt problem Is exemplified in the estimated cars stolen during 1962 with a prop erty value o of some mil mil- lion Bon This was a cent increase over 1981 1961 and sta for or the first six months of 1963 reflect another nine per cent rise Assuredly law enforcement needs eve eve r y weapon at its command to cope wIth car thieves Yet In some quarters there here are arc a afew afew few who advocate the repeal of the existing federal statute specifically designed to help fight auto theft the Dyer Act AM Such a proposal could not be based on an objective appraisal al of Ute the over all problem I Let us take a closer look at I some crucial aspects of car theft Currently the FBI is In In- a number of auto theft rings some involving as many as motor vehicles each Recently one group of thieves operating in five states tates bought late cars for which legitimate mate title titie papers were ob- ob tamed The title papers papers' and publIc serial plates of the I wrecked cars were then used I m In the sale of stolen vehicles of similar make and model IN ONE case a car was stolen m In Canada given a fl tic registration m in a state not having a title law and sold in Florida Only a few years ago the tho FBI located 15 auto auto- mobiles In Arabia which had been stolen In this country The operational scope of high ly car theft thelt rings is almost unlimited Investigations o of such viola lions arc complex and far flung Usually they require prompt simultaneous action at different locations On a ana na national basis 20 per cent of aU all automobiles stolen are arc recovered ered In jurisdictions jurisdictions' other than that in which the theft occurred oc curved In some areas the recovery re re- covert covery by other jurisdictions Is as much as 50 per cent LOCAL authorities can hard ly be expected to have lies necessary to successfully follow ow through on cases involving Inv in- multiple jurisdictions In various states Common logic dictates that the responsibility fail all on an investigative agency having o 0 n wherever I Ion o n i 1 s needed Some reasons advanced for forthe the tho repeal o of the Dyer Act In In- elude clude 1 delays delay in obtainIng obtain obtain- ling Ing judgment In federal courts because o of matters beIng han ban died which have no legitimate federal Interest and 2 the large number of federal prison Inmates mostly juvenile servo sere Ing sentences for interstate transportation of f stolen motor vehicles The facts fall fait far short of supporting these con con- tendons DURING TilE THE fiscal year 1962 o of the 3 defendants brought before federal courts only 15 per cent ent were were charged under Ute the Interstate Transportation Transportation tation of Stolen Motor Vehicles Statute Of these the vast majority ma ma- pleaded guilty leaving only about three per cent of the total federal cou court defend ants to stand trial under under- the statute Some 1490 auto thieves un der 18 years of age alte were han han- died under the Federal Juvenile Juvenile Juve Juve- nile Delinquency Act during the 1982 1962 fiscal year Of these 40 per cent were diverted to state courts or dismissed 25 per cent received probation and only 35 per cent were committed to federal In addition 73 per cent cento o of paroles granted to federal prisoners lr n fiscal year 1982 1962 were to inmates charged with auto theft I ACCORDINGLY It would appear that juveniles detained in federal prisons under auto i theft thelt convictions represent a i rather small percentage o of the i total Inmates This is true when compared with their t e representation in the national auto theft problem where 62 per cent of aU all arrests are persons per per- sons under 18 years o of age Today with almost 80 mil lion motor vehicles on the nations nation's na na- I tion's highways and the auto theft thelt total Increasing annually annual annual- ly the nullification o of any available means to light fight the crime would be a crippling Ii blow to law enforcement |