Scott County law enforcement officials: Car thefts moving to rural Quad-Cities - Quad City Times

Car thefts in Davenport have gone down in the past few years, but they continue to rise in the rest of the Quad-Cities, according to Scott County law enforcement officials.

In a press conference Thursday morning Davenport Major Jeff Bladel, Bettendorf Police Chief Keith Kimball and Scott County Sheriff Tim Lane spoke about the number of car thefts in the Quad-Cities and how they can be prevented. They gave updated numbers from 2021, and spoke about the Quad-Cities Lock it down campaign.

Davenport has seen a 21% decrease in car thefts since 2018, according to Bladel, but there were still almost 500 stolen cars in 2021.

"One car stolen is too many cars. The impacts we have, the damages that occur, the other crimes that are somewhat associated with stolen cars. To bring that down, it's simple. This is a simple request that we're having. Stolen cars are nearly 100% preventable, if we lock it down," Bladel said.

Bladel said many of the car thieves are juveniles — he's seen 9-years-old kids in a stolen vehicle. Chief Kimball said the thefts usually happen when a group of young people get together and check cars to see if they're unlocked or have keys visible. The stolen cars are often used to commit other crimes.

"These are crimes of opportunity, and yes, they're random. They occur everywhere. There's nowhere in the Quad-Cities that you're immune from this," Kimball said.

source: https://qctimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/scott-county-law-enforcement-officials-car-thefts-moving-to-rural-quad-cities/article_e178fd3b-1135-5855-a18a-124222f79728.html

Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.