To Develop and Implement a Universal Definition of a "Stolen" and "Recovered" Motor Vehicle as it Pertains to Motor Vehicle Theft

Submitted by: Vehicle Crimes Committee

VCC.018.t2017

WHEREAS, many vehicles that are reported "stolen" were, in fact, simply towed (e.g., repossession or parking infraction); and

WHEREAS, in such cases, it would be beneficial if law enforcement was capable of immediately identifying that a reported stolen vehicle has been impounded or towed by linking a tow file to an attempted entry of a stolen vehicle record within the state's Criminal Justice Information Sharing System; and

WHEREAS, this would elevate public service and decrease law enforcement allocation of personnel time in administrative and investigative time for towed vehicles being reported as stolen; and

WHEREAS, it is believed many law enforcement agencies are reluctant to report stolen vehicles originating from a rental agreement; and

WHEREAS, the lack of uniformity or understanding of a statutory motor vehicle theft definition that includes rental vehicle thefts gives criminal offenders the opportunity to gain from vehicle theft; and

WHEREAS, there is difficulty in identifying the actual number of motor vehicle thefts within the national databases, as stolen vehicles associated with other crimes are simply not identified; and

WHEREAS, for example, if a vehicle is stolen in a carjacking event, it is not identified as a stolen vehicle event; and

WHEREAS, some reporting systems and requirements use hierarchical reporting when a stolen vehicle is used in a more serious crime (e.g., armed robbery, homicide, or arson) would not be identified as a stolen vehicle event; and

WHEREAS, a challenge in attempting to identify the number of 'recovered' stolen vehicles varies from one reporting system to another; and

WHEREAS, since many auto theft enterprises flourish on a variety of deception (e.g., using stolen vehicle parts or vehicle identification number (VIN) swapping) it is important to understand whether a vehicle recovery event was a 'partial' or 'complete' vehicle recovery event; and

WHEREAS, in instances where only a part (e.g., license plate, fender, or motor) was recovered, the reporting system should be able to identify the type of recovery event as either "partial" or "complete"; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED that the International Association of Chiefs of Police calls upon the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to develop and implement a universal definition of a "stolen" and "recovered" motor vehicle as it pertains to motor vehicle theft within the reporting systems of the FBI National Crime Information Center (NCIC), FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR), and the FBI National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).