10 - Application for extension of an Automobile urglary & Theft Prevention Grant

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City of Paris Grant Application for Fiscal Year 2021 https://abtpa.tamu.edu/Application/PrintApplication.asp?AppID=159& The Task Force has been fortunate and has been able to keep the same personnel since 2011 and we have developed professional relationships with law enforcement, citizens and business owners in our communities. The Task Force does other activities such as salvage yard inspections, attending events to distribute auto crimes awareness materials, and completing 68-A inspections for citizens that otherwise would have to drive into the DFW metroplex. The intent of this application is to at least maintain the highly trained auto theft investigators in our area that is mostly rural. There are few agencies in our coverage area that have dedicated auto theft investigators. We would like to continue our mission of recovering stolen motor vehicles, investigation and arrest of the perpetrators and maintain the public awareness of the auto theft and burglary problem in our area. Grant Problem Statement 2.1 Provide an assessment of the motor vehicle burglary (including theft of parts) problem in the coverage area of this application. The project coverage area for the Task Force is large; however, with limited resources the Northeast Texas Auto Theft Task Force investigates most burglaries that occur in the City of Paris. Without the Task Force these cases would always be reassigned to the Patrol Officer that took the initial report. Patrol Officers seldom have time to investigate crimes reassigned to them. Using UCR numbers for the City of Paris in FY 2016 168 cars were burglarized, in FY 2017158 and in FY 2018 128 cars were burglarized. In FY 2016 the city showed a estimated dollar loss of $100,143, in FY 2017 there was a $94,726 loss and finally In 2018 the City showed a loss of $62, 642. The increasing use and availability of social media has made it difficult to recover property in these cases as now there are so many ways to sale the stolen property through various social media market places le Offerup, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace and pawn shops. The jurisdictional area showed a total of 1,979 theft from motor vehicles in FY 2017 with a total loss amount of $12.9 million dollars. The jurisdiction also showed a total of 334 theft of auto parts/accessodes with a dollar amount loss of $354,604 in FY 2017. The majority of the offenders in these case have tended to be 15 to 20 year old males and they commonly simply pull handles and rummage through vehicles. Guns are commonly found be taken in these burglaries and many times are later found when Narcotics Detectives/CID have run search warrants on drug traffickers. Task Force sometimes assist on those warrants when available and extra personnel are needed. The City has seen the number of guns stolen out of cars increase from 16 in FY 2016, 20 in FY 2017 and 26 in FY 2018. Most offenders of auto theft crimes are linked to the methamphetamine problem that is growing. This is due to the availability of methamphetamine leading to a drop in the price of the drug. This will undoubtedly lead to more dealers/users with the availability of the drug at a lower cost and an expected increase in the associated crimes. 2.2 Provide an assessment of the motor vehicle theft problem in the coverage area of this application The primary applicant the City of Paris is a city In Lamar county centrally located between Grayson and Bowie Counties that cover the West and East ends of the Task Force's coverage area with Hopkins and Hunt Counties part of the southern area of coverage. Examining the auto theft cases reported in FY 2016, FY 2017 and FY 2018 shows the city of Paris had a relatively steady number of auto thefts with 45, 46, and 48 reported. In FY 2016 Lamar County reported 10 auto thefts, in FY 2017 they had 15 and FY 2018 they had 10. Most auto theft cases are vehicle stolen with the keys inside or access to the keys to the vehicle the thief had or gained. The auto thefts almost always are connected to the methamphetamine/drug problem in our area. Also our coverage area recovers vehicles stolen from in and around the Dallas area as our area is only an hour away at the closet from Dallas. iN Fy 2016 due to auto theft the amount of reported loss auto theft and vehicles to the City of Paris was $447,789, in FY 2017 it was $538,250, and in FY 2018 it was $233,695,00. The jurisdictional coverage area in FY 2017 showed approximately 634 auto thefts and using the average of $9,283.00 per vehicle for the stolen vehicles in Paris shows a loss of $5.8 million dollars. The National insurance Crime Bureau has two metropolitan areas on their 2018 Theft Hot spots list with Sherman -Denison at #171 Nationwide with 275 auto thefts and a rate of 205.24 and Texarkana Arkansas at #124 with 377 auto thefts and a rate of 250.93. The UCR numbers do not include trailer thefts, atv's, tractors and other farm related Items that are stolen In our area due to the large amount of agriculture industry in our coverage area. The Task Force sees burn vehicles of 14 05/2112020,11:42 AM