Understanding Car Theft: Root Causes and Prevention Measures

Running head: CAR THEFT
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Car Theft
Name
Institution

CAR THEFT 2
Introduction
In order to understand a problem one needs to get its root causes and comprehends how
and when this problem occurs. Crime usually occurs worldwide and this is undeniable fact
that people live with; it’s part of the society. The rate at which crime occurs, where it occurs,
the perpetrators of crime, when it occurs all narrow down to crime patterns and opportunities.
It’s easy to acknowledge the prevalence of crime in the society today, but it is not easy to
understand why the same cannot be reduced given that there are competent security agencies
that are mandated to handle such cases and are also paid to do so. Prevention of crime is
challenging because crime itself is unpredictable but when crime patterns, routines,
occurrences are studied closely then there will be a high possibility of reducing crimes
(Newman & Clarke, 2016).
Car theft has become more disturbing recently as high class robbery groups have
developed a taste for valuable cars (Zulkifli, et. al, 2014). It remains unsettled on how such
issues can be solved comprehensively while also addressing the victim’s issues. There have
been several reports of car theft in Australia especially high profile cases. Therefore, in as
much as the problem can be solved through legal and security measures, they may not be
adequate enough to curb or cope up with rate of car theft cases (Weisburd, Groff &Yang,
2012). Hence, I would recommend to Melville City Council more effective and better ways to
prevent the prevalence of car theft within their jurisdiction. This would entail the use of
various theories on crime so as to understand the nature of crime better. The study of crime
pattern will also be significant in coming up with effective measures to curb the crime. The
council needs to review this alternatives and new ideas so that there is a chance of largely
reducing the rate of car theft.
There are various theories that would be utilised to get better understanding of the nature
of crime;

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Routine activities theory explains into depth as to why some crimes are so common, this
theory can help the council to understand which crimes the police should always pay
attention to (Rossmo & Summers, 2015). They are crimes that take place on a daily basis by
the same group of criminals; actually they commit such crimes like its normal and with much
ease and no planning are needed (Reynald, 2013). The theory helps to understand how such
crimes can be curbed and dealt with by the police agencies who will easily identify such
crimes and where they occur after understanding the nature of such crimes.
Crime pattern theory also plays a major role in understanding how some crimes take
place. This theory is wide as it covers a lot of aspects of crime so as to come up with a better
understanding of the patterns of crime. It analyses into depth the places that crimes occur,
why they occur, at what time the crime occurs, the rate at which the crime occurs,
characteristics of the criminals involved as all this gives an inclusive report about a crime
(Wikström, 2012). For instance, there is a street where car-hijacking is common late in the
night and the criminals mostly are youths. This shows that such knowledge can be used by
the council to lower the rate of car theft within its jurisdiction with necessary information on
how such crimes are committed and the time they are committed. Such information can be
very useful to police who can intervene before such crimes take place (Tilley, 2013).
Opportunities crime theory narrows down to the explanation as to when criminals commit
crime (Benson & Simpson, 2014). This theory tries to show that crimes are committed when
an opportunity comes up. Intensive opportunity reduction can yield wider drop in crime,
prevention measures in one place can lead to a decrease in crime another area nearby, a
diffusion of benefits. The benefits of targeted prevention can spread beyond the objects of the
intervention. The theory analyses as to how criminals take advantage of certain situations to
steal from their victims (Yu, 2011). For instance in most cases of car theft, it has been
reported that most cars are stolen when parked where other cars are; this shows that the