Photo caption: Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart
Alarmed at the rate of vehicles carjacked in Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart called on Congress to do as the Illinois Assembly did last week and approve a bill requiring automakers to create a quicker way for police and victims to locate hijacked vehicles.
Dart, who was surrounded by his deputies, made his remarks during a press conference held Monday, May 23rd, at 7100 S. Vincennes where he said more than 200 hijacked vehicles were found within a half mile radius of that area.
Sheriff Dart praised Illinois lawmakers for passing HB2245 which he crafted and was supported by 100 co-sponsors. He said the bills requires automakers who sell vehicles in Illinois to create a 24/7 hotline needed to let police and the victims of hijackers locate the stolen vehicles before thieves commit a crime or a murder.
Pointing to a sign entitled: “Automaker Roadblocks on Tracking,” Sheriff Dart said car manufacturers excuses for not wanting to make it easier for police and victims to find the stolen vehicles “are insane.”
Dart said while many vehicles that were built after 2015 have tracking capabilities, unfortunately legal access to that data is routinely delayed when automakers don’t staff existing call centers after business hours, require victims to pay a service fee to activate the tracking or institute legal and unnecessary rules.
“While some automakers have been extremely cooperative in helping police protect the public, others give us excuses and unnecessary conditions, costing investigators precious hours and even days,” Dart said.
He was referring to several excuses some car manufacturers gave for not providing a 24/7 hotline to alert police and the victims about the location of the stolen vehicles.
Some of the excuses given were that the victims should call their lawyers, you need a warrant to do that, location service was never activated, we only track during business hours, the car is not trackable or the customer has to pay a fine to get their vehicle hijacked. Their excuses, Dart said, are “insane.”
“The people of Illinois shouldn’t have to live in fear of becoming a victim at every stop sign, gas station, or even their own driveways,” said Dart. “Carjackings are a horrific crime that has our county on edge. Ultimately, the quicker we can recover these vehicles, the more of these crimes we can prevent and the more likely we are to catch and prosecute these offenders.”
Working closely with Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Dart said this information should be readily accessible to victims who have had their vehicles stolen. He made it clear that providing a 24/7 hotline would not violate or eliminating any privacy protection for consumers.
Dart said it will help police officers catch carjackers before they use the vehicles in additional crimes or abandon them making it hard to prosecute the carjackers.
“Hijacked vehicles are often used to further additional violent crimes, including armed robbery and homicide, but we can find many of these cars quickly if automakers would remove unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles to providing critical location data,” Sheriff Dart said.
He added, “The federal government can easily follow suit here, saving lives and limiting this vicious, violent crime that has left too many people afraid to drive.”
Dart said resolutions were introduced in the General Assembly by Illinois Rep. Martin Moylan (D-55) and Illinois Senator Willie Preston (D-16) calling on Congress to help address carjackings and create a national hotline.
According to Dart, Cook County saw 1,838 reported carjackings in 2022, up 24 percent from 2020. Data from the Council on Criminal Justice shows that the number of carjackings increased 24 percent across seven cities from 2020 to 2022. Those cities include Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Memphis, Norfolk, and San Francisco.
According to Kellie Bartoli, a spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department, from January 1, 2023 to May 22, 2023, there have been 455 vehicular hijackings in Chicago.
Sheriff Dart said he would love to make a report card on the cars favored by hijackers so that consumers would be aware of the potential dangers before buying a vehicle.
