Rep. Henry Cuellar says federal government needs to do more to fight carjacking in U.S. cities

After getting carjacked, Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat of Texas, is calling on the federal government to increase funding for law enforcement.  

"We've got to make sure that we provide the resources at the federal level," he said. "I think sharing resources and intelligence personnel will be important to address this. 

Last week, as he was parking his car, three armed robbers in knit caps and ski masks approached the congressman near his Washington D.C. home, stealing his Toyota Crossover. 

"It happened fast," said Cuellar. "Nobody expects to have a gun pointed at them to their heads. And it's one of those things that it was, you know, a surreal moment. I was fortunate that I was not hurt. You can always replace a property, but you cannot replace your life." 

A wave of recent carjackings in nation's capital has raised concerns about a dramatic rise in these dangerous crimes in some of America's biggest cities. But only about 1 in 3 cases end in an arrest, according to research. 

CBS News analyzed data from 11 major metropolitan areas, which showed nearly 4,000 reported incidents this year alone. In 2022, Chicago reported 1,650 carjackings, and Baltimore reported 714. The number of reported incidents in Philadelphia tripled between 2020 and 2022.  

"Anybody can be a victim at any time," said Bruce Jacobs, a professor of criminology at the University of Texas, Dallas.  

"Most of these carjackings occur either in and around parking lots, residential streets, convenience stores, and or commercial parking lots," Jacobs explained. "Anywhere they can approach you, get you out of the vehicle quickly, get in the car and drive away." 

Despite the local news media attention carjackings often receive, the likelihood of apprehending a suspect remains dishearteningly low. A recent report from the Annual Review of Criminology shows less than one in three of these crimes ends in an arrest.  

"Very often the offender is wearing a hoodie or a cap or a mask and has concealed their identity. And a lot of times these offenses happen so quickly and there's so much panic on the part of the victim that they cannot give a reliable description to authorities to take that person into custody," Jacobs said. "And that emboldens people if they know that there's a stronger likelihood that they'll get away than get caught." 

Jacobs added the popularity of carjacking could be linked to new technology, which has made hotwiring more difficult and time-consuming. Instead, similar to the case of Rep. Cuellar, carjackers often approach drivers in or around their vehicles to steal their keys.  

"I saw to the left, somebody had a gun. I looked to the right. Another person had a gun. They said, we want your car. I said, OK," said Cuellar. "They didn't even ask for my wallet. They didn't want any money. All they wanted was the car." 

Jacobs said the congressman made the safest move. His advice for victims is to stay calm, assess the risk, and cooperate.  

"Give them the keys. No resistance. Carjacking fatalities are extraordinarily rare; something like two-tenths of 1% of all reported carjackings result in a fatality," Jacobs said.  

Not every city is seeing a surge. Detroit, for example, is on track to see this year's carjackings decline by nearly half compared to 2022, and Minneapolis, in particular, has seen a significant drop. According to CBS News data, the city's carjacking rate will drop by more than 200 incidents, if current trends continue through the rest of the year. Minneapolis reported 524 carjacking incidents in 2022. 

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara attributes the department's success in curbing carjackings to their collaboration with federal authorities. The city has worked closely with Minnesota U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger to bring harsher penalties in carjacking cases – a move O'Hara believes has deterred criminals from carrying out the crime.  

"We have a U.S. attorney here that is driving all of the resources of the federal government against these problems," said O'Hara. "It sends a message to the community and to those who are doing these crimes that they will be taken very seriously and they will be prosecuted federally and there will be a consequence for these actions."