RPD data: Significant drop in car thefts compared to other crimes

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — The Rochester Police Department’s Open Data Portal is reporting a significant decrease in car thefts during the first half of 2024 compared to this time last year.

Most of the car thefts reported in 2023 were due to a discovery spread on social media that certain Kia and Hyundai vehicles did not have an anti-theft immobilizer .

Around this time in 2023, there were over 2,000 incidents of stolen vehicles. For the year, there were 3,942. Those numbers led to the City of Rochester filing a lawsuit against Hyundai and Kia.

To date in 2024, Rochester has seen a significant decrease with only 797 reported.

Several efforts were launched to combat the issue. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office established a Stolen Car Task Force, Kia hosted an anti-theft upgrade center at MCC, and steering wheel locks were given out to owners who would be affected. While the numbers appear optimistic, those efforts haven’t entirely stopped the problem.

There have been decreases in other crimes as of July, but none as significant as the decrease in car thefts. For instance, at this same time in 2023, there were 123 shooting victims compared to 96 victims through June 30 of this year.

Both 2023 and 2024 saw 16 people killed in shootings around this time. At the end of 2023, the number increased to 288 victims shot — 44 of those individuals died as a result of the shootings.

There are currently 16 homicides in 2024 compared to approximately 25 homicides in 2023 around this same time. By the end of 2023, there were 56 homicides.

With this in mind, the numbers we have now in 2024 are not conclusive as to how the year will end in terms of these crimes. News 8 has reached out to RPD for comment, but they have declined to provide one at this time.

You can view all of the current statistics on the Rochester Police Department’s website.

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