Cook County Sheriff's team tracks both carjackings and auto thefts to gather data, fight crime
CHICAGO (CBS) -- With carjackings and the massive rise in thefts of Kia and Hyundais standing out as two major crime issues in Chicago, how do they intersect?
How do the crews operate? And what's being done to target them?
As CBS 2's Tara Molina reported, a team from the Cook County Sheriff's office working from One Chicago at State and Superior streets is targeting both carjackings and Kia and Hyundai thefts. The team gave us an inside look at how crews are operating – and what makes them different.
When a car gets stolen or carjacked, the Sheriff's office team trails it – from theft to recovery.
"These folks are like the sort of conduit for everything," said Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart. "All the information that's being brought together – they're spitting it out."
The team tracks and investigates every detail of the crime – from how the crew took the stolen car down to its make, model, and color.
The team asks: "How many people are in a crew? Are they using guns?" said Cook County Sheriff's office director of data driven strategies Roe Conn, who leads the downtown office.
Conn, a former radio talk show host who pivoted careers, explained the goal.
"To build a dataset around carjacking and motor vehicle theft to see what was really going on," he said.
And with Kia and Hyundai thefts exploding in Chicago – up 957 percent according to the team – on top of the carjacking problem continuing to plague the city? The team has got their hands full.
"We're trying to hit it on multiple levels here, but it is hard," Dart said.
Dart explained that criminals have a method behind their acts.
"There's some thought behind what they're doing," he said.
Dart said crews are choosing to straight-up steal cars rather than carjack people. Part of the reason is the danger to the offenders associated with carjacking.
"The bad guys will tell you, you know… think of it from their standpoint: 'Why would I want to expose myself to the fact the guy I'm carjacking might have a gun?' because that's happened too, and they get shot – when they can just steal it from in front of the house. 'No one even saw me do it,'" he said.
Dart explained how a simple auto theft is easier to get away with.
"You steal a car from in front of a house, there's no witnesses of who did it, A. B, it's a long time before you know it's stolen. It could be hours," Dart said, "and so you have a bigger gap. You can have the car now before anyone knows it's gone."
Dart also noted that the criminal penalties for carjacking are far more severe than those for simple auto theft – which also influences the bad guys' choices of what crimes to commit.
"Aggravated carjacking is a Class X felony offense. A straight steal of a car, more often than not, is going to be a criminal trespass which is a misdemeanor," Dart said. "So it makes more sense, then, for that type of crime to go on."
Carjackings in Cook County have slightly declined – with 1,298 so far this year in Chicago and suburban Cook County. Last year, there were 1,662 during the same period.
But the Sheriff's office team is still calling the carjacking dilemma a criminal epidemic.
"There is some residual value to hijacked cars with key fobs or keys," Conn said. "Straight stolen cars have a little bit less value because of that – because you don't have the keys – and that becomes a whole other set of circumstances for them."
That is why Conn says some crews aren't just stealing cars off the street.
"The Hyundai and Kia thing is interesting because they strip the column, right?" Conn said. "Now that car is clearly stolen. It's easy for us to identify as stolen."
On the other hand, Kias and Hyundais specifically are easy to steal.
"When you have the vulnerabilities of Kia and Hyundais, it's wildly simple," Dart said. "Children can do it, and have done it."
Either way, carjacking or car theft, we are told the vehicles are being used in other crimes.
"When you have people actively telling us, 'We're taking these cars so we can do other crimes,' well, we have to take their tools away from them," Dart said.
The Sheriff's team uses its office to associate stolen or carjacked cars with other criminal acts that are going on, Conn explained.
The challenge the office is not only tracking, but working to overcome every day, is catching the crew – and finding the stolen car – before the next crime spree begins.
"Armed robberies are up 25 percent," Conn said. "They're being done by the same crews that are doing the carjackings, and a lot of straight-steal people as well."
"We're trying to hit it on multiple levels here," Dart said, "but it is hard."
The Sheriff's office shared the following breakdown of crime statistics on vehicle thefts and carjackings:
- Vehicle thefts have been a meteoric rise since June 2022, when viral videos on social media showed how easily Kia and Hyundai vehicles could be started using items such as the end of a USB cord to turn the key mechanism.
- From January 1, 2021, through May 31, 2022, there were:
- 496 Kia thefts.
- 723 Hyundai thefts.
- 1,219 Kia and Hyundai thefts
- But from June 1, 2022, through November 8, 2023, there were:
- 5,992 Kia thefts.
- 6,840 Hyundai thefts.
- 12,882 Kia and Hyundai thefts.
- This represents a 957% total increase just for those two manufacturers.
- Motor vehicle thefts have also increased in general, not just for Kia and Hyundai vehicles.
- From January 1, 2021, through May 31, 2022, there were 16,129 thefts of all makes and models (including Kia/Hyundai) in Chicago.
- But from June 1, 2022, through November 8, 2023, there were 34,282 – a 113 percent increase.
- Carjackings have slightly declined.
- This year (through 11/13/2023), there have been 1,298 carjackings in Chicago and suburban Cook County, as well as 32 attempts.
- Last year, there were 1,662 during the same period.
- This represents a 22% decrease in carjackings in 2023 YTD compared to the same period last year.
