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Recovery rate for stolen vehicles drastically reduced, suggesting organized crime involvement: OPP


May 13, 2010   by Canadian Underwriter


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Ontario Provincial Police jurisdictions currently have a recovery rate of about 50% for stolen vehicles, compared to a 90% recovery rate in 1990.
The figures were presented by Stephen Boyd, detective sergeant and program manager for the provincial auto theft team at the organized crime enforcement bureau of the OPP.
Combat Auto Fraud, an ISB education training and resources session, was held on May 12 at the Glencairn Golf Club in Halton Hills.
The theft rate across the province, including the GTA, remains the same every year, give or take 1% or 2%, he said. In rural Ontario, 78% of the stolen vehicles are recreational vehicles.
Boyd said the decrease in the recovery rate is indicative of organized involvement in auto theft. And the nature of the organized crime is changing.
He said organized crime traditionally follows a pyramid structure, with a leader at the top and then it fans out to the bottom. “What we are seeing now across the province is this pyramid is becoming flatter and flatter all the time,” Boyd said.
In the past, community and nationality would segregate these groups, but “now it’s like the United Nations” and everybody is working together. “All the lines are becoming blurred and it’s becoming tough for us,” he added.


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