Seattle Car Theft Statistics

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This entry was published at least two years ago (originally posted on August 11, 2005). Since that time the information may have become outdated or my beliefs may have changed (in general, assume a more open and liberal current viewpoint). A fuller disclaimer is available.

Scary auto theft statistics for the Seattle area from a Seattle Times article:

  • King County car thefts last year: “…9,253 in Seattle and 3,624 in the rest of the county.”

  • “On average, a car is stolen every 12 minutes in Washington state. That’s an average of about 122 cars per day, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

    “Seattle-King County auto thefts represented more than a quarter of the 43,070 cars stolen last year in the state. By comparison, there were 4,825 auto thefts in Snohomish County last year.”

  • “A car thief in Washington has about a 1-in-16 chance of being arrested for each car stolen, according to data provided by the prosecutor. And, because of sentencing guidelines, a car thief will face a year or more behind bars only after the seventh offense.”

  • “State sentencing guidelines call for zero to 60 days in jail for a first offense. Many car thieves are given parole or relatively short sentences for initial offenses.”

According to the article, the King County Sherrif’s Office is exploring ways to combat this, but have a way to go and little to no budget for it. Pretty eyebrow-raising.

3 thoughts on “Seattle Car Theft Statistics”

  1. 7th offense before going to jail for a year or more??? Holy crap! Methinks you should be getting at LEAST a year in jail after being busted say, the 3rd time stealing cars. But then, with the amount of stolen cars in Washington state your jails would be OVERFLOWING with car thieves!

  2. Don’t anyone tell Rockstar Games.

    GTA: Seattle doesn’t have the same ring to it.

    Also, all those Nude Cyclists would give the game an R Rating.

  3. I’m just thankful that NJ has finally dropped in the car theft rankings. Back in the mid-90s, something like 5 of the 10 worst cities for car theft were in Jersey. Jersey was still number 2 a few years ago, but they dropped to 10th and now 23rd.

    But the problem in Seattle isn’t too surprising when you consider their staff members are driving cars from the 80s! How you expect the cops to focus on stopping crime when they’re driving around in an ’87 Saab?! :P

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