Preventing auto theft takes money, vigilance

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Your car has been stolen, so what do you do?

Curse the low-life who took off in your most valued possession, probably just to pay for a few rocks of methamphetamine.

Call the cops, though your missing car will be low on a list of emergency calls that is 20 or 30 deep.

Call your friends; in Modesto, the car-theft capital of America where a car is stolen every 76 minutes, some of them will be able to sympathize.

Finally, do all the things you must to put your interrupted life back together — call the insurance company, make certain your identity hasn't been stolen along with the car, and file a police report even if you must do it online.

You also can vow to fight back. Your first blows should include:

Parking your car in a garage, even if it means a garage sale to make room

Installing a car alarm — most thieves don't want to hear them

Buying an anti-theft device, which can discourage opportunists

Being smart. Never, ever walk away from your car while it's running. Always take your keys with you, even just to pay for gas. Lock your car.

Today, The Bee launches a four-day series of stories, graphics and photos with online interactive enhancements all about the epidemic of vehicle theft. It represents an exhaustive effort, spearheaded by reporter Chris Togneri, during which our reporters have talked to authorities, victims, insurance agents and car thieves. The package outlines costs and provides tips to make your car less vulnerable — mainly making it less easy to steal.

But diminishing the "stupid factor" won't have the greatest impact on reducing car theft. While some people undoubtedly make it easy for thieves, most cars are stolen at night or while unattended in parking lots.

To shed our national No. 1 ranking will require hard work and money.

Before you say, "There they go again, suggesting we throw more money at a societal problem," realize you're already throwing money at it. Your insurance rates can be nearly double what is paid by owners in areas with lower theft rates. If your car is stolen, you likely will pay thousands to have it repaired or replaced.

And you're already paying for innumerable hours of police work, including a special force to catch car thieves.

As we pointed out in an editorial in August, the solution is multifaceted, but starts by putting more police officers on the street. Fresno increased its street patrols from 18 to 85 and saw its car thefts plummet from 13,500 to 5,200 per year. Modesto has only 18 officers on patrol on a given night — we must have more. The city soon will add 11 officers. We'd like to see them assigned to patrol.

Once arrested, criminals must be locked up. Stanislaus County's Public Safety Center is filled to capacity almost every day, meaning those accused of property crimes are released so violent criminals can be kept inside. Assistant Sheriff Mark Puthuff will present a plan to county supervisors early next month to put two bunks in each cell, making room for an additional 294 inmates. This is a vital step.

With space to house them, we need bails high enough to keep them in jail. Typical bail is $10,000, meaning car thieves can be sprung with $300 to a bail bondsman. Police Sgt. Carlos Castro told us in August, "We go out and arrest guys all day long, but they're not staying in jail; that's the problem."

Bail recommendations are reviewed annually by Stanislaus County Superior Court judges, but this year the bail was left at $10,000 even though the district attorney's office requested that it go to $40,000. The Superior Court judges should meet soon and reconsider.

Many car thefts can be traced to methamphetamine users trying to pay for their next high. This chemical scourge has afflicted us for years. Having more officers on the street would do as much to discourage this nasty business as it would to discourage car thieves.

How do we pay for extra officers?

State law allows counties to collect $1 per vehicle registration to curb auto theft, and Stanislaus has levied it since 1995. How about a dollar increase in that fee, with the money to add officers? Our representatives — Sens. Jeff Denham and Chuck Poochigian and Assembly members Greg Aghazarian, Dave Cogdill and Barbara Matthews — should push legislation to allow counties, with voter approval, to collect another dollar.

While they're at it, they can legislate longer sentences. First-time offenders get off with 16 months. After waiting a typical eight months for trial, they can walk out the door upon conviction.

It's too easy to steal a car in Stanislaus County. There are joy riders, gang members and professional thieves working hard to make our lives miserable. What do we do when our cars are stolen?

We fight back. Starting now.