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Word: thefts (lookup in dictionary) (lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
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Usage:

...fear of it is growing exponentially and in the process changing the way America drives. The FBI estimates that there were 25,000 carjackings last year, up an alarming 25% from the year before. That is still only a tiny fraction of the 1.6 million annual car thefts, but when combined with other incidents in which cars have become both weapons and targets -- the drive-by shootings in Washington or the cinder blocks dropped off highway overpasses in Detroit -- it leaves an impression of rolling danger that fuels a kind of hysteria. "Our agents say there's real fear...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Hell on Wheels | 8/16/1993 | See Source »

...broke away and leaped over the railing of the police parking structure, falling one story below as the carjackers fired at him. He wasn't hit, but he suffered lacerations to his forehead in the fall. Says Randy Ballin, head of the California Highway Patrol's Los Angeles auto-theft unit, who investigated the case: "These people don't care who you are. They don't care that you are a cop and may be armed. They have nothing to lose. The criminal-justice system is not a deterrent. It's a minor inconvenience...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Hell on Wheels | 8/16/1993 | See Source »

...down from 14.6% in 1990, the recovery rate for the stolen cars is high. That is one reason why police officers urge victims to give up their cars without a fight; in Los Angeles County, 9 out of 10 cars are recovered within two weeks of the theft. "I like to tell people, 'Fall in love with your life, not your car. The car can be replaced.' " says Parsons of the FBI. "It's just not a smart move to go up against some 16-year-old kid with an automatic weapon. And chances are, your car is going...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Hell on Wheels | 8/16/1993 | See Source »

Meanwhile, conventional car theft has been exploding too. The motives tend to vary from city to city. Newark has a serious problem with joyriders, usually teenagers, who steal cars and perform "doughnuts," in which they lock the brakes, step on the gas, and send the car spinning in circles. Some do it in front of police cars, in the hopes of inspiring a chase. One night last November, three kids stole a new Honda, drove across a side street, hit a bump in the road, took off, sheared a power pole in half, took another pole out and brought...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Hell on Wheels | 8/16/1993 | See Source »

...explosion in car theft, and even more the fear of it, has inspired an army of entrepreneurs eager to cash in on what has become a $500 million to $600 million annual security business. As many as 90% of the luxury cars sold in California are equipped with antitheft devices either in the factory or at the dealership. There are glass sensors, tiny microphones that set off an alarm if they pick up the tinkling of broken glass. Motion sensors and shock sensors go off if the car is jolted or bounced. Clifford Electronics Inc. offers a remote-triggering device...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Hell on Wheels | 8/16/1993 | See Source »

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