Natalia Chi
CHICAGO (WLS) — Despite many high-profile cases and community alerts in recent months, Chicago police numbers show carjackings in the city are down significantly from a year ago.
However, the crime category of Chicago vehicle thefts is a good news/bad news scenario.
Car thefts, where occupied cars are taken by the driver, sometimes at gunpoint, are down considerably in the city while outright car thefts are significantly higher, according to data obtained by the ABC7 I-Team.
Even though both categories of car thefts end with a stolen car, cases where thieves brandish weapons are inherently more dangerous compared to a basic stolen car, also known as Grand Theft Auto, where an unoccupied vehicle is simply swiped off the street, driveway. , parking lot or garage.
A few weeks ago, the CPD Vehicular Hijacking Task Force touted its 27.4% reduction in carjackings to date.
That’s backed up with police data collected by the I-Team, showing a sharp decline in total carjackings the past 12 months after a multi-year increase in carjackings.
The statistical drop in carjackings comes as CPD recently issued an alert about a rash of carjackings on the city’s North and Northwest Sides, from Bucktown to Rogers Park.
In one case a shot was fired because the victim was trying to leave.
