Car Thefts

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32382, 22 August 1970, Page 12

Car Thefts

Serious crimes, particularly crimes of violence, are comparatively few in New Zealand; but the lesser offences of car conversion and thefts from cars are alarmingly prevalent Converted cars are usually recovered—damaged, more often than not —within a day or two of their disappearance, having evidently been “ borrowed ” for a joy-ride. Very few instances of theft of cars, as distinct from conversion, come to the notice of the police. From the evidence of those corvicted of car conversion it is apparent that shiftless young men, often the worse for drink, are the main offenders. Defence counsel’s plea that the offence was unpremeditated offers little consolation to the owner of a damaged car. If anything of value has been left in a converted car it is most unlikely to be still there when the car is recovered; but such thefts are probably incidental to rather than the motive for the car conversion. Theft from a parked car, however, is a different matter. In nearly all such cases reported to the police a radio, camera, musical instrument, or some other object of value has been left in the vehicle where it can be seen through a window. “ I “ left the car for only five minutes, so I didn’t bother “ to lock it ”, is the usual lament of sadder but wiser motorists. A nimble thief needs only five seconds to open a car door and remove a parcel from inside.

More than half the cars taken unlawfully in Christchurch in the last two months were left with the key in the ignition or in the door, or with a door or window unlocked. Few of these cars, it can safely be assumed, would have been taken if the owners had observed the elementary precautions of locking the doors and windows of their vehicles. Most of the thefts from parked cars, too, have been from unlocked vehicles—and nearly all the stolen goods have been visible from outside. These are some of the most easily preventable crimes; the victims have only themselves to blame.