ABSTRACT
This case study describes a Winnipeg, Manitoba, initiative to reduce motor vehicle theft which was occurring at a rate four times the national average. The thefts were costly and were dangerous because of the thieves’ reckless driving habits. A task force comprising criminal-justice agencies, the insurance industry, and the University of Manitoba studied the problem, concluding that auto theft had become part of youth culture in parts of the city. Vehicles were used for joyriding or as temporary transportation: they were stolen more for excitement than for money. Certain easy-to-steal vehicle types were targeted. Interviewed young auto thieves reported feeling peer pressure to steal cars and obtaining status for doing so and not being concerned about consequences. The response plan had three components: (1) a tiered youth education and supervision program, part of which was based on focused-deterrence principles; (2) mandatory installation of electronic immobilizers in high-risk vehicles (and eventually their mandate in all new vehicles sold in Canada); and (3) social development programs for at-risk youth and their families, most delivered by youth probation staff. Eventually, vehicle-theft rates dropped by over 80 per cent between 2006 and 2011.
