Auto Theft

Buffalo and Rochester have dominated Western New York state for auto theft ¹ since 2002. Here is a comparison of the numbers contrasted with three Western New York neighbors, with the leading number italicized for each year:

Year	Monroe County2	Erie County3	Onondaga County4
2000	3,202	3,477	1,038
2001	3,173	3,436	1,182
2002	3,630	3,024	1,540
2003	4,461	3,312	1,391
2004	4,102	2,850	1,315
2005	2,855	2,932	1,130
2006	3,030	2,592	931
2007	2,122	2,771	771
2008	1,698	2,362	687

As you can see, Rochester and Buffalo have traded back and forth for the lead and Syracuse is hardly worth mentioning. The numbers have dropped off considerably since 2005.

The glamour of our ranking is slightly dimished by the fact Dodge Neons are one of the most commonly stolen cars, proving again that we as a city have no taste. However, this in turn is compensated for by the fact that one of the most common locations for recovery of stolen vehicles is school parking lots. If our city's precocious youth are already accomplishing so much at the start of their careers, imagine the scale of their exploits as full grown adults.

• Index of Crimes Reported by County

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2005-12-27 22:23:16   I strongly suggest using a club on your steering wheel. Auto theft is taken lightly by the RPD so ooyou need to protect yourself, or at least your car. —DanDangler