Officers in Chicago, Illinois, have only made arrests in 2% of Kia and Hyundai car theft cases, despite the increase in stolen vehicles in the city, NBC5 Chicago reported.
Chicago vehicle theft rates rose 767% in 2022 following TikTok videos from May 2022 that showed viewers how to start Hyundai and Kia cars with a USB cable. An average of 29 Kia and Hyundai vehicles were stolen daily in the city between June 2022 and July 2023, but officers only made arrests in 249 out of the 12,240 cases of stolen cars from those two brands — a 2.034% arrest rate, according to NBC5. (RELATED: Illinois Officially Eliminates Cash Bail, Citing ‘Pretrial Fairness’)
“(We are) actively working to address the increase in motor vehicle thefts,” the Chicago Police Department (CPD) told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “To strengthen these investigations, we are leveraging technology to help identify and apprehend the individuals and crews committing the thefts. Grant funding from the Illinois Secretary of State has also helped CPD invest in additional technology, data analysis and equipment. Steering wheel locks were also purchased for distribution to community members using this grant funding.”
👀 𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒓?
📍Join the Recruitment & Retention team this week at one of our events!
👩🏼💻We’ll be taking on-site applications & answering questions!
🚔See you soon! pic.twitter.com/fHpOyo3oKi
— Join CPD (@JoinChicagoPD) October 9, 2023
Democrat Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson sued Hyundai and Kia in August for not implementing more anti-theft features into their vehicles and blamed the companies for contributing to the rampant crime in the city. Officers have claimed they have to focus their minimal resources on the most “serious” crimes instead of combatting vehicle theft.
Thieves have stolen 23,528 vehicles in 2023 so far, a 68% increase from 2022 and a 200% increase from 2021, police data showed. Total crime in the city has increased 73% since 2021.
The Chicago mayor’s office did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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