Report Says Car Theft Numbers in Missouri & Illinois Exploding

I would say that this is a good reminder to lock your car doors in Missouri and Illinois, but I'm not sure that would matter much as a new report says incidents in both states are exploding and especially in Illinois.

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The National Insurance Crime Bureau just released new data that's been gathered from vehicle thefts so far in 2023. You'll see two very familiar states in the top 10 - both Illinois and Missouri. It's not even the fact that car thefts are more common in our states than most other places in America. It's the rate of incidents and how fast they're rising.

This infographic they shared shows Illinois ranking as the 5th highest vehicle theft state and Missouri at 10th. Look at the rate of growth year-over-year in Illinois though.

A 38% jump in vehicle thefts in Illinois while Missouri is up only 3%, but the number of thefts is still super-high. Wow.

The NICB report adds a note that law enforcement may still be inputting numbers into the database, so this data may rise even more.

How can you keep your vehicle from being stolen in Missouri or Illinois?

Forbes mentions 5 obvious ones like locking doors and making sure windows aren't down. I'll add one of my own that is similar to what they mention which is not leaving valuables in the car/truck. Whatever you do, don't leave your smartphone in the car where it's visible. The resale market for stolen phones is sky-high and is all the motivation some thieves need to break your windows or pick your locks.