New York State - Division of Criminal Justice Services

the help of funding received from other agencies such as the National Insurance CrimesBureau and the state Insurance Frauds Bureau. The sting location has also helpedincrease collaborative efforts with other law enforcement agencies by aiding them intheir investigations.Suffolk County Office of the District AttorneyPerformance Measure Total Performance Measure TotalMVIF investigations initiated 21 Warrants issued 5Investigations filed with SAFETNet 0 Indictments 13Hits resulting from SAFETNet 0 Misdemeanor convictions 17MVIF-related misdemeanor arrests 7 Felony convictions 12MVIF-related felony arrests 38 Confidential informants developed 2Suffolk County Police Department – Vehicle Theft SectionThe Vehicle Theft Section, which consists of one detective lieutenant, onedetective sergeant and eight detectives, is part of the Major Crimes Bureau of theSuffolk County Police Department and reports to the Chief of Detectives. The VehicleTheft Section has primary investigative responsibility for auto and marine thefts, autoand marine insurance frauds, odometer frauds, vehicle dismantlers and investigationsinvolving the disposal of junk and salvage vehicles.Vehicle thefts in the Suffolk County Police District showed a decline in 2009, with1,639 vehicles reported stolen. 367 fewer vehicles than were reported stolen in 2008.The vehicle recovery rate is 77.9 percent. The Vehicle Theft Section conducted 80insurance fraud investigations in 2009, two more than handled in 2008.While the number of vehicles stolen in Suffolk County has declined, the makeand models of the most frequently stolen vehicles have remained relatively constant.During 2009, the most commonly stolen vehicles in the county were the Honda Civic,followed by the Nissan Altima, Honda Accord, Jeep Cherokee, Dodge Caravan, ToyotaCamry and Nissan Maxima (tied with the Ford Explorer). Older model vehicles continueto be stolen and sold for scrap as the price of scrap metal has slightly risen from earlierlows.Motorcycle-related crimes have continued, with foreign-made bikes morefrequently stolen than American-made motorcycles. While Suffolk County experiencesmotorcycle thefts throughout the year, this crime spikes during the summer months.Suffolk County also has experienced a rash of auto stripping incidents involvingtires and rims of late model, high-end vehicles. This crime has been occurringthroughout the year, but increased during the onset of colder weather and the resultingreduced chance of detection due to fewer people outside and on the roads. This crimehas been linked to increased thefts of larger vehicles, such as the Dodge Caravan andPlymouth Voyager, which are then used to transport proceeds from the crime.NYS DIVISION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SERVICES MVTIFP BOARD / ANNUAL REPORT 2009 Page 48