Auto-Thefts, Inc.

Last October Chicago discovered that in the three previous months more of its automobiles had been stolen than new cars registered. For the full year there were 34,246 auto thefts in Cook County (Chicago and environs)--nearly 100 a day. Last week as the Illinois Legislature talked of repealing a stringent new anti-theft law (reason: it might cost money to enforce it) Chicago got mad.

As worst auto-thieving city in the U. S., Chicago enjoys the highest U. S. theft insurance rates. In San Francisco it costs 75-c- per $100 to insure a Chrysler, in Washington 95-c-, in Boston $1.70, in Manhattan $3.05, in Chicago $9.18--$91.80 a year for $1,000 of insurance.

Chicago insurance rates are based on three factors: 1) the number of cars of a given make registered; 2) the number (of the same make) stolen and 3) the average loss on each stolen car.* The average loss on a stolen Chrysler is $225, the number of thefts 21.4% of registrations old and new. The theft-ratio for Walter P. Chrysler's two lowest price cars is even higher--44.5% for De Sotos, 80.6% for Plymouths. But the average loss is less--$80 on a Plymouth. So the Plymouth rate is only $6.55 per $100.

Mr. Chrysler's cars have been specially honored by thieves because they have speed and a quick getaway--useful not only to the thief but to the thief's gangdom customers. One ''mob'' is reported to have standardized on Plymouths for the current year.

Many stolen cars are not resold but stripped of their wheels, lights, batteries, bumpers, etc. The stripped car is then dumped in the street and the parts sold to dealers who specialize in repairing stripped cars. Chicago strongly suspects that some Chrysler dealers eke out their incomes by buying spare parts cheaper than they can be got from the factory, even suspects some dealers of being in direct cahoots with gangs.

Mr. Chrysler's products are not however the only Chicago cars stolen, for thieving is there a highly organized business. Youngsters equipped with keys, devices to short circuit ignition switches, etc., are hired to do the actual thieving. They drive the stolen car to an agreed spot where others pick it up and take it to a fence who strips it, dumps it out in a deserted street. A policeman finds it. and he (probably not having been paid for several months) may take off a few more parts to help support his family. The police then "let out'' to a garage the business of towing in and storing stolen cars till the owners are found. The garage then obligingly offers to make repairs for the owner, probably with stolen parts, possibly with parts of his own car. It is a profitable business. The vast majority of thefts are by strippers, but some cars are sold out of the State and a certain number are stolen for "hoists" (payroll stick-ups). In the last case the owner often gets his car back within the week, none the worse except for a few bullet holes.

New Chrysler models are being equipped with non-pickable steering locks which will soon become standard on Plymouths and De Sotos. Strangely enough insurance companies are partly blamed for the thieving: out of false economy they have often saved on repair bills by having cars fixed by garages at cut rates (i. e. with stolen parts).

*Chicago's theft insurance rate on Fords exactly equals the rate on Chryslers although percentage-wise only two-thirds as many Fords are stolen. Reason: the lower percentage of Ford thefts is balanced by five times as many Ford registrations, more Ford thefts by actual count.

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