Response No.

Page No.

Response

How It Works

Works Best If…

Considerations

General Responses to Carjacking

1

Establishing carjacking task forces

Promotes collaboration among police, other criminal justice agencies, community-based organizations, and researchers for the purpose of addressing difficult crime problems

…there is active participation by all relevant local, state, and federal agencies, as well as relevant non-criminal justice organizations and the work is informed by a deep understanding of the local carjacking problem

Task forces are challenging to manage as each partner entity has its own priorities and objectives

Specific Responses to Carjacking

Offender-based Responses

2

Identifying and focusing attention on repeat criminal offenders

Reducing criminal offending generally tends to also reduce specific crime types, including carjacking

…your community’s repeat offenders are also engaged in carjacking

If carjackers in your jurisdiction tend to specialize in that one crime, then broader repeat offender initiatives are unlikely to affect carjacking

Victim-based Responses

3

Launching carjacking awareness and prevention publicity campaigns

Raise drivers’ awareness of carjacking risks in terms of place, time, vehicle make, and carjacking methods

…the campaigns include practical and specific recommendations for reducing the risk of carjacking victimization

Unless carefully designed and targeted to the at-risk audience, crime prevention publicity campaigns can be costly, but ineffective

Place-based Responses

4

Reducing the risks of carjacking at high-risk locations

Reduces the opportunities for carjacking by increasing risks of detection and the effort required to carjack vehicles

…carjackings cluster in significant numbers at specific locations

Because carjacking can occur in any location where operated vehicles are close to pedestrians, there might be no specific locations where carjacking commonly occurs

5

Make vehicles less attractive targets for carjackers

Leads carjackers to conclude that the risks of detection are greater than the rewards

…carjackers are averse to the risk of detection and don’t benefit greatly from the crime

Carjacking for thrills rather than for profit makes carjackers care less about the attractiveness of the vehicle

6

Educate vehicle owners about remotely disabling their carjacked vehicle

Increases the probability that the vehicle will not operate for long after being stolen and thereby makes carjacking a less appealing crime to commit

…many vehicles are equipped with remote disabling technology

Many vehicles won’t come equipped with remoted disabling technology and many of those owners won’t invest in installing it

7

Track carjacked vehicles

Increases the probability and speed of police recovery of the vehicle, making the crime less rewarding if financial gain is the motive for committing it

…vehicle owners can quickly authorize police to receive the vehicle location information

Many vehicles won’t have tracking technology installed

8

Set up 24-hour hotlines with vehicle manufacturers

Increases the likelihood that police will be able to locate the stolen vehicle quickly, thereby discouraging carjackers from committing the crime

…police can be quickly authorized to receive notification of the vehicle’s location

Requires some administrative effort to establish 24-hour notification arrangements with vehicle manufacturers

9

Install facial recognition technology in vehicles

Prevents starting or operating a vehicle if the driver is not a recognized authorized driver

…high-quality facial-recognition technology is installed in the vehicle

Many vehicle owners will not choose to invest in facial-recognition technology due to cost, privacy preferences, or a desire to avoid possible inconvenience in operating one’s vehicle

10

Make vehicle key fobs hard to clone

Makes stolen vehicles harder to sell; requires carjacker to take more time to find the key fob in the vehicle or rob the driver of it

 ...vehicle manufacturers are willing to redesign key fobs

 Requires coordinated police communication with vehicle manufacturers who might be reluctant to redesign their product

Responses with Limited Effectiveness

11

Arresting and prosecuting carjackers

Deters carjackers from repeating their crime and deters others who learn of arrests from committing carjackings

…arrest rates are high enough to persuade carjackers that the risk of apprehension is unacceptably high

Given the suddenness of carjackings, victims commonly have difficulty describing or identifying the carjacker, making arrest and prosecution difficult even if the vehicle is recovered and/or a person driving the vehicle is detained