Canberra has emerged as one of the worst-affected cities in the country for car theft, and its citizens are taking to social media to try to find their missing vehicles.
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A research company analysed 257,268 tweets that included terms such as "car was stolen" and found Canberra ranked number eight globally.
The research, commissioned by the UK company Scrap Car Comparison, follows the latest data issued by ACT police, which revealed 825 vehicles were stolen in Canberra in the first seven months of this year. For calendar year 2021, 1312 cars were reported stolen, up from 1232 the previous year.
Per head of population, Canberra has emerged as the one of the worst-affected cities in the country for car theft in the past 12 months.
Police are finding that a significant number of the car thieves are recidivists, and often have been bailed for previous offences.
The problem has become one with significant knock-on effects given that most modern cars have immobilisers and cannot be stolen without access to the electronic key or fob, which is linked to the vehicle's computer.
This means the majority of car theft in the ACT is linked to burglary (breaking into a home or property and stealing the keys) and/or theft (stealing the keys from a person's belongings, such as a bag in a gymnasium, change rooms or fitness centre).
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Cairo was found to be the city where car theft was most discussed on the Twitter platform, followed by Athens, Rome, Singapore and Amsterdam. Canberra was the only Australian capital city to feature in the top 10.
Police are also concerned that car theft is a precursor to other types of more serious crime, such as aggravated robbery. A rising issue within Canberra is the number of vehicles which are being stolen during the day, which then leads to dangerous driving behaviour when the offender is detected.
A newly established ACT Policing taskforce is targeting high-risk driving behaviours and stolen vehicles which are often used in the carriage of other crimes such as burglaries and assaults.
Since mid-July, ACT police have posted about 15 serious motor vehicle related offences which include speeding, dangerous driving, failing to stop, drug-affected driving, and allied offences including burglary and assault.
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