COPS GAIN UPPER HAND, BUT CAR THIEVES STILL BUSY.

Byline: HARRISON SHEPPARD

Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO -- Auto theft in California dropped last year for the first time this decade, stemmed by increasingly aggressive technologies to combat crime, law enforcement officials said Thursday.

Statewide, nearly a quarter-million vehicles -- 247,896 -- were stolen last year, but that was still a 5.5 percent drop from the previous year, according to data from the California Highway Patrol.

That means almost 14,000 fewer Californians parked their vehicles somewhere and returned hours later to find them gone.

Los Angeles County's drop was even steeper -- 6.5 percent, with 66,727 vehicles stolen -- while Ventura County saw a 7.6 percent drop.

"I think what we're doing here is sending a message that auto theft is a personal thing for many Californians. It's a personal thing for us in law enforcement," CHP Commissioner Mike Brown said. "We want to stop it."

The San Fernando Valley has experienced a 14 percent drop over the past three years -- from 9,059 stolen in 2004 to 7,809 last year, according to the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Bureau.

Officials said the declines are at least partly because of new technology.

Owners are increasingly purchasing vehicle-theft tracking or security systems and using devices that lock steering wheels, columns or brakes.

Law enforcement officials also are using more "bait cars." Placed in high-theft areas, the vehicles sometimes are left with keys inside and the engine running. But they are equipped with tracking devices, and cameras inside capture audio and video.

Once stolen, the bait car sends a signal to a laptop computer inside a patrol car that could be sitting miles away.

Officers track the vehicle and arrest the driver. They can even use remote control to halt the car by stopping the engine. Last year, the CHP made 357 arrests using bait cars.

Officials are also using automated license-plate recognition systems in which multiple cameras mounted on patrol cars randomly and automatically scan license plates and run them through a database on cars reported stolen. The systems led to 535 arrests and the recovery of 868 vehicles last year, Brown said.

Carmakers have also increased their security measures.

"As the new-model cars come out, more and more of them are having anti-theft devices built in," said Chris McGoey, a private security consultant based in Los Angeles.

"Most new cars from midprice on up have built-in alarms. More are coming with key-coding systems. The alarm systems are definitely cheaper than they used to be."

Local jurisdictions throughout California have also stepped up efforts to fight auto theft. There are at least 16 auto-theft task forces throughout the state that combine resources of local and state agencies.

In Los Angeles County, the Board of Supervisors in 1992 authorized an additional fee on motor-vehicle registration to create a regional task force for auto-theft prevention.

The task force pools resources from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, LAPD, CHP and other agencies to target organized car-theft rings that ship vehicles out of the country.

But Lt. David Moeller, a CHP officer who works in L.A. County with the task force, said even as anti-theft measures have become more sophisticated, so have the thieves.

Now, he said, they are using identity-theft techniques in conjunction with car theft.

"Crooks are becoming a smarter breed," Moeller said. "There are a lot of crooks that really know the ins and outs of all these automobiles. Some of them are very sophisticated. We've had cases where crooks have created (false) identities for people, including credit histories, and then gone out and 'purchased' vehicles."

But simple methods also still work.

Oxnard police said they have had a problem with vehicles being stolen from residents who left the engines running in front of their homes to warm up cars on chilly mornings."And then they would come out a few minutes later and find their car missing," Oxnard police spokesman David Keith said.

As a warning, the department twice last year sent a team of officers to write $60 citations to people who left cars running unattended in the morning. The team ticketed about 65 people the first time and 60 the second.

The department also assigned an officer to work on car thefts. Auto thefts have dropped from 1,039 in 2004 to 614 last year.

Frank Scafidi, a spokesman for the National Insurance Crime Bureau, recommends some steps to prevent auto theft.

The first -- and most basic -- is to lock the car and take the keys, even on a brief stop.

"People (leaving keys) will run into a 7-Eleven and grab a quick cup of coffee," Scafidi said. "They come back out, and the car is gone.

The list of stolen vehicles is full of 1990s Toyota Camrys and Honda Accords, valuable for parts, but flashy cars are also targets.

"If you want to buy the hottest car and park it for hours at a time unsupervised," McGoey said, "it might not be there one day."

harrison.sheppard(at)dailynews.com

[phone]

Safety tips

ROLL 'EM UP: Always roll up your windows and lock the car, even if your car is parked in front of your home.

INVALUABLE: Never leave valuables in plain view, even if your car is locked. Always park in high-traffic, well-lighted areas.

For more tips and a list of the most commonly stolen cars, see Page 11

CAPTION(S):

2 boxes, chart

Box:

(1) Safety tips (see text)

(2) Tips to keep your vehicle safe

Chart:

Most-stolen automobiles in 2006

Sources: California Highway Patrol, Los Angeles Police Department 

Daily News