100 Cars Stolen in East Haven, Surrounding Towns in 2 months

EAST HAVEN, CT - For several months now Branford Police Chief Kevin Halloran has been warning people in town, the Board of Police Commissioners, everyone he can about what he has termed the biggest crime problem around - thefts from cars and thefts of cars themselves in Branford and surrounding towns.

At the most recent Board of Police Commissioners meeting, Halloran decided to use a different tactic to try and convey how serious a problem car theft has become for Branford cops and surrounding town police forces.

"I've been thinking about this problem a bit differently," Halloran told the commissioners. "Let's say the cost of the average car is about $15,000. In the surrounding towns, a small geographic area, over the past two months we've had over 100 cars stolen," the chief said.

So, he told the commissioners, "Do the math - that adds up to $1.5 million."

Halloran said the towns he was talking about were Branford, East Haven, North Branford, New Haven, Guilford and Woodbridge.

Just in Branford, in the first quarter of the year, the chief said, there has been a sharp increase in auto theft.

He said there have been 15 cars stolen in Branford in the first quarter of 2018; compared 5 cars stolen during the same time period in 2017.

Halloran said the biggest reason for the spike, in his opinion, is that auto theft has been taken off the list of serious crimes - so that those doing the stealing don't fear the consequences as they used to.

The biggest thing people can do to prevent the theft of cars, or the theft of goods inside cars, is pretty simple, Halloran said.

"Lock your car," the chief said.

Halloran said the typical thefts are being done by a ring of juveniles.

"They'll drive up - four, five, six kids in a car, scattering all over a neighborhood, looking for laptops and other merchandise in a car," Halloran said.

"If the keys are left in the car - then they'll just take the car."

While Branford and other police departments generally wind up finding most of the cars, the chief said the cars are often in bad shape.

"The interiors are destroyed, they are banged up," the chief said. "There's some pretty significant damage. It's not like they are driving your grandmother's Buick."

Halloran said people need to begin realizing what a huge problem this is becoming and start to be more vigilant about locking cars, putting cars in garages when they can, and taking other extra security measures.

"Just think about what is happening to insurance rates because of all this," the chief said.