1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:10,640 Speaker 1: brain Stuff luring bog Obam here. The author of today's episode, 3 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:14,239 Speaker 1: Dave Rouse, has a buddy named Mark. Mark lives in 4 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:20,959 Speaker 1: Chicago and loved his Honda Civic hatchback. Thieves loved it too. Apparently, 5 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: a late nineties Civic is worth far more than its 6 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:26,840 Speaker 1: blue book value in parts alone. Multiple people have pulled 7 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:28,680 Speaker 1: up next to him at stoplights and offered to buy 8 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:31,480 Speaker 1: the hatchback on the spot. Maybe he should have taken 9 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:34,240 Speaker 1: them up on the offer. The first time his Civic 10 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:37,000 Speaker 1: was stolen, the cops quickly recovered it a few blocks away. 11 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: The second time, Mark wasn't so lucky. He went out 12 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 1: to search for the car himself and found it about 13 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:45,600 Speaker 1: a mile from his apartment under an overpass, stripped of 14 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 1: its engine and missing the entire front paneling. And now 15 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: Mark takes the train. Mark Civic didn't have a car 16 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:55,760 Speaker 1: alarm because, like most of us, he assumed that alarms 17 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: were a waste of money if you live in a 18 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:01,080 Speaker 1: big city. Falsely triggered car alarms as common as pigeons 19 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 1: and just as annoying. A blairing car alarm in Chicago 20 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:07,320 Speaker 1: barely raises an eyebrow. There's even a name for it, 21 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 1: alarm fatigue. But does our collective disdain for car alarms 22 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:15,600 Speaker 1: mean that they aren't effective. We spoke with Chris mcgowey, 23 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 1: a security consultant of thirty three years and host of 24 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 1: the podcast Crime School. He admits that we all have 25 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: alarm fatigue to some degree, but thinks that alarms still 26 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:28,880 Speaker 1: have their place. He said, car thieves will tell you 27 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:31,400 Speaker 1: they don't like the noise, they don't like the attention 28 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:33,920 Speaker 1: that it draws, but it depends on the quality of 29 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:36,480 Speaker 1: the car thief. If it's just an amateur car thief, 30 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: the alarm goes off, they're gone to that extent they work. 31 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:43,640 Speaker 1: Professional car thieves, on the other hand, don't even worry 32 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 1: about alarms. McGoey says. The pros can either disable the 33 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:50,480 Speaker 1: alarm quickly or use a number of tactics, including dummy 34 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: sets of keys and tow trucks, to circumvent the alarm 35 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:59,080 Speaker 1: system altogether. According to INTERPOL, the international law enforcement organization 36 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 1: CARTIFF worldwide can be divided into two distinct categories. Widely 37 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:09,000 Speaker 1: available older cars that's quantity and higher end, and luxury 38 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:15,280 Speaker 1: cars that's quality marks Civic fits squarely in the quantity category, 39 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 1: the type of car that's irresistible to young street level 40 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:22,280 Speaker 1: car thieves. Parts for older, widely available cars are in 41 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:25,440 Speaker 1: high demand. Plus, most cars built before the year two 42 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:29,639 Speaker 1: thousand can still be hot wired. McGoey said, the old 43 00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 1: cars are a piece of cake. In modern cars, all 44 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 1: the keys have a chip built into them. That chip 45 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 1: has to be married up to the ignition. You can't 46 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: go in there and break off the steering wheel column 47 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:40,919 Speaker 1: like you would in the old days, the car won't start. 48 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: If low level car thieves are more likely to be 49 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:46,960 Speaker 1: spooked by car alarms, then it's worth figuring out if 50 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 1: your car is attractive to low level car thieves. First 51 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 1: check if your car is one of the ten most 52 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:55,080 Speaker 1: stolen in America, that's a sure sign you're in the 53 00:02:55,160 --> 00:03:00,360 Speaker 1: quantity category. According to low Jack Vehicle Theft Recovery Report, 54 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 1: the most stolen mixing models are the Honda Civic and Accord, 55 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: the Toyota Camra and Corolla, the Chevy Tahoe and Silverado, 56 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:11,920 Speaker 1: the Nissan Altima, the Cadillac Escalade, Ford F to fifty, 57 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 1: and the Acura Integra. Again, older model years are the 58 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:19,680 Speaker 1: easiest to swipe and have the highest demand for parts. 59 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:23,359 Speaker 1: Mcgoey's rule of thumb is quote, look at the most 60 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:26,640 Speaker 1: popular cars today, they'll be the most stolen cars in 61 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:31,120 Speaker 1: the country ten years from now. Another hugely important factor 62 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 1: is where you live. According to statistics from the FBI 63 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: and the National Insurance Crime Bureau, big cities routinely have 64 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:40,920 Speaker 1: the highest total number of car thefts, but that's because 65 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 1: there are lots of cars in big cities. A more 66 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: useful statistic is car thefs per capita. In that category, 67 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:51,400 Speaker 1: California is king. California is home to eight of the 68 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 1: ten metropolitan areas with the most car stolen per person. 69 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,560 Speaker 1: In Los Angeles held the title for the most car 70 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 1: stolen nationwide fifty five hundred and fifty nine, but the 71 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 1: smaller Central Valley cities of Modesto, Bakersfield, and Salinas had 72 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 1: far greater theft rates per capita. Another perhaps unexpected capital 73 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 1: of car theft is Albuquerque, New Mexico, number two in 74 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:18,760 Speaker 1: the country four stolen cars per resident. There might be 75 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 1: a simple explanation for this geographical clustering of theft rates. 76 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,360 Speaker 1: According to a report from the Department of Justice, one 77 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:29,039 Speaker 1: third of all cars stolen in the US were stolen 78 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:34,360 Speaker 1: from four states, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. That's 79 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:37,640 Speaker 1: because there's a lucrative trade in stolen cars and parts 80 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:41,600 Speaker 1: directly into Mexico. Although the smuggling rings are operated by 81 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:45,159 Speaker 1: large criminal organizations, the report concluded that the cars themselves 82 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:49,599 Speaker 1: are mostly stolen by juveniles. So if you drive a 83 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:52,400 Speaker 1: popular car that's more than decade old and you live 84 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:55,120 Speaker 1: within a few hours drive of the border, it's probably 85 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:58,400 Speaker 1: worth investing in a highly visible alarm system. The flashy 86 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:01,039 Speaker 1: decals alone might be enough to to her thiefs scanning 87 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:03,800 Speaker 1: the aisles and the mall parking lot, but if a 88 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 1: car alarm does go off near you, you shouldn't go 89 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:10,720 Speaker 1: investigate unless your law enforcement or security personnel. It's their 90 00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 1: job to investigate alarms, not bystanders. Fortunately, a car owner 91 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: doesn't necessarily have to be an earshot to learn that 92 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: their car is being broken into, or at least approached. 93 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:25,400 Speaker 1: Many companies latest security systems include instant notifications sent to 94 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:33,359 Speaker 1: the owner's smartphone or keys. Today's episode was written by 95 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:35,839 Speaker 1: Dave Ruse and produced by Tyler Clay. From One on 96 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:37,520 Speaker 1: This and lots of Other topics is at how stuff 97 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:40,200 Speaker 1: works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio. 98 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 99 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.