Crime is down in nearly every category so far this year with one major exception: Motor vehicle thefts are up 33.5% through the first six months of 2023 compared with 2022, according to a new midyear analysis of crime trends from the Council on Criminal Justice.
So far this year, 23,974 more vehicles were stolen in the 32 cities that reported data to the council for its midyear analysis compared with 2022.
The council noted that motor vehicle thefts first began increasing at COVID’s onset. Since 2019, they have more than doubled, most likely driven by a popular TikTok challenge that’s shown thieves how to steal some Kia and Hyundai models, the researchers noted.
Seven cities have seen at least a doubling of car thefts so far this year alone. Motor vehicle thefts in Rochester, NY., and Cincinnati were up 355% and 162% respectively through the first six months of 2023 compared with 2022.
For its analysis, the Council on Criminal Justice looked at monthly crime rates in 37 U.S. cities for the first six months of 2023 compared with the same period a year earlier. Homicides were down 9.4% in the 30 cities that reported data. Other crimes that also decreased: Aggravated assaults (-2.5%), gun assaults (-5.6%), robberies (-3.6%), residential burglaries (-3.8%), nonresidential burglaries (-3.8%) and larcenies (-4.1%).
Other than motor vehicle thefts, the only other crimes to increase during the first six months were domestic violence (+.3%) and drug offenses (+1%).
