The number of cars being broken into has increased significantly in the past two years in Taipei City, a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City councilor said yesterday, urging the city’s police department to increase the number of police officers handling such cases.
While the police have dedicated their efforts to preventing auto theft, the number of cars being broken into for auto parts or valuables increased from 562 in 2007 to 1,386 last year, KMT Taipei City Councilor Lee Yen-shiu (李彥秀) said yesterday.
“More and more residents have complained about their cars being broken into and valuables such as DVD players, GPS devices and stereos being stolen. The chances of catching the thieves are extremely low,” she said.
According police department statistics, the rate of car break-ins solved last year was 19 percent, while the rate of car thefts solved was 65 percent.
The parking lot on Jiangguo S Road Sec 2, Xinsheng N Road Sec 1 and Minquan E Road Sec 1 had the highest rates of car break-ins.
On average, each victim lost about NT$40,000, the statistics showed.
The councilor criticized the police department, saying it made little effort to solve car break-ins, making it almost impossible for victims to recover their losses and encouraging organized crime.
Lee Yang-biao (李楊標), chief of the department’s Theft Division, said parking lots under overpasses were hotspots for thieves to break into cars and steal car owners’ belongings, as those parking lots lack police patrols.
The chief said the police department was stepping up its efforts to patrol car theft hotspots and would install more surveillance cameras in the parking lots.
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