DEARBORN, Mich. (WXYZ) — If you feel like you’re constantly hearing news reports about car thefts in metro Detroit, it’s not your imagination.
Auto thefts have have been rising at an alarming rate.
To combat the problem, a new car theft task force was announced today in Dearborn. It’s a partnership of local law enforcement agencies and the prosecutors office.
7 Action News spoke with local leaders as well as a victim about what this all means.
Car theft is a growing problem in our area and now a new task force is aiming to turn the trend around.
“It’s a devastating feeling. It will send you into depression. It will send you into a spiral. And it also just make you so angry because there’s nothing that you can do,” said Charmane Neal, executive director of Hey Y’all Detroit.
Hey Y’all Detroit is a neighborhood organization that provides free resources for struggling communities.
Last September, their van was stolen and stripped for its parts.
“We’re still handicapped. We’re still trying to recover from our vehicle being taken with all those things. I’ve said this before, people didn’t get food that week,” Neal said.
Today, a group of local law enforcement agencies announced an Auto Theft Task Force in Dearborn along with Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud.
“This issue wasn’t just unique to the city of Dearborn. The reality was thefts that occurred in neighboring cities, bled into the city of Dearborn. And thefts that occurred in the city of Dearborn were chased out of the city. So we knew we needed regional collaboration, we needed partnership with the prosecutors office, from Michigan State Police, cooperation from all of our border cities in order combat this initiative together,” said Mayor Abdullah.
Now that combining of forces is a reality.
“If we can prevent the theft before it ever occurs, you’re not only going to see a significant decrease in the number of auto thefts that happen, you’re also going to see a significant decrease in the other violent crimes that also occur,” the mayor said of the new initiative.
“What you see over here are a number of cars that were recently taken in a search warrant by our task force that we just launched,” said Issa Shahin, police chief with the City of Dearborn.
Chief Shahin explained auto thefts are up 53% over the last year in Dearborn alone, but it’s not just a Dearborn problem.
“It’s really all over the place. But one of the things we’ve seen a trend in is they’re getting younger and younger. And so you know you see things on social media putting out the Tin Tok challenge for Kias and Hyundais. But they are getting younger,” Chief Shahin said.
“It’s incredibly easy to depending on the manufacturer. So as many of you might have seen, Kia and Hyundai can be stolen with a USB port. Chrysler products can be stolen with a propad, where they literally can get a device online on the internet that will fabricate a key in seconds,” the chief said.
Shahin says anyone participating in the ecosystem that supports these thieves should also be worried.
“I want to be clear, this task force that we just launched is not just about catching the offenders but also people who are buying stolen parts that are trading in those parts,” he added.
Charmane Neal reacted to the news.
“I’m very excited that a task force is finally being put together. We need something. We can’t keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting new results,” Neal said in response to today’s announcement.
