New York State - Division of Criminal Justice Services

Through the work of the unit’s chief detective, the climate in Yonkers, whoseclose proximity to New York City and easy access to highways had made it a primetarget of car thieves. However as reported on blogs and through confidentialinformants, car thieves are now afraid to come to Yonkers, particularly with cars thathave been pieced together with stolen parts or with an eye to steal and strip down a car.The detective has taught many of YPD’s officers (as well as officers from surroundingjurisdictions) the signs that a car may have stolen parts, altered VINs, or bogusregistration and inspection stickers. His work with other agencies has helped to shutdown numerous chop shops during the past decade and they have not returned to thearea.The current trends in auto-related fraud include falsely reporting a car stolen;staged accidents and medical mills; and enhanced damage to vehicles, which involvesthe body shop causing additional damage that did not occur in the original accident. Theunit has worked closely on cases with these agencies during 2009:Putnam County SheriffFBIDEAU.S. Postal ServiceU.S. CustomsNational Insurance Crime BureauNYS Inspector GeneralNY Insurance Fraud BureauNY Department of Motor VehiclesNew York State PoliceSuffolk County PoliceHastings-on-Hudson PoliceDobbs Ferry PoliceWhite Plains PoliceNYPD Auto Theft UnitStamford (CT) PoliceNew Haven (CT) PoliceTenafly (NJ) PoliceWestchester DABronx DAYonkers Police DepartmentPerformance Measures Total Performance Measures TotalMVT investigations initiated 43 Confidential informants developed 6Investigations filed with SAFETNet 24 Reported motor vehicle thefts 343Hits resulting from SAFETNet 1 Stolen vehicles recovered 74MVT related misdemeanor arrests 2 Value of parts recovered $3,000MVT related felony arrests 14 Value of vehicles recovered $775,000NYS DIVISION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SERVICES MVTIFP BOARD / ANNUAL REPORT 2009 Page 53