Carjacking
Carjacking is a violent crime that involves the forcible theft of a vehicle, often with the use or threat of weapons. The crime typically occurs in urban areas where drivers may be particularly vulnerable while entering or exiting their vehicles. Carjackers may physically remove victims from their cars or force them to stay inside, sometimes leading to additional criminal charges like kidnapping. This crime not only threatens personal safety but also raises concerns about the loss of personal belongings, such as wallets and purses, during the incident.
Public awareness of carjacking has heightened due to extensive media coverage, especially in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when several high-profile cases drew national attention. Despite advancements in vehicle anti-theft technology, reports indicate that carjackings are on the rise, with significant increases in the number of incidents from 2019 to 2023. Certain cities, including Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Chicago, experience notably high rates of carjackings per capita. The underlying causes of this trend may be linked to economic challenges and the demand for stolen car parts. Overall, carjacking remains a significant concern for many vehicle owners, instilling fear and apprehension about personal safety on the roads.
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Carjacking
SIGNIFICANCE: Carjacking evokes a great deal of attention and emotion in people due to the violence or threatened violence that is typically associated with the crime. Carjackers often physically pull owners from their vehicles or force them to remain inside while they make their getaways. When victims of the crime are forced to remain in their vehicles, the crime of kidnapping also applies.
Sensationalist news media treatment of carjacking has placed fear in the hearts of millions of people who regularly drive in congested urban areas. The problem involves an apparent paradox: The more advanced the antitheft technology is on expensive vehicles, the greater the chances are that the owners of those vehicles will become victims of carjacking. The reason is simple: It can be easier for a car thief to steal a vehicle if its owner is in it, or nearby, with the ignition keys that defeat the vehicle’s antitheft equipment. Drivers are especially vulnerable to carjacking when they are entering or exiting their vehicles.
In the twenty-first century, personal vehicles are important parts of the lives of many American citizens. The thought that at any time armed criminals can approach drivers and take their vehicles, while pointing guns or other weapons at them, causes much concern and apprehension among the car owners and drivers. While committing their crimes, carjackers also take the opportunity to rob vehicle owners of such personal items as wallets, purses, pocketbooks, and other personal effects.
Tracking the number of carjackings that take place in the United States each year is problematic. The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), which is managed under the Federal Bureau of Investigation, do not officially track reported carjackings, which are classified as robberies. However, the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which is compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, estimated that approximately 49,000 attempted or completed carjackings per year occurred in the early to mid-1990s. According to a study by the Council on Criminal Justice, between 2019 and 2023 car thefts and carjackings increased 105 percent and 93 percent, respectively. In 2023, the cities with the highest carjacking rates per 100,000 residents were the District of Columbia, Baltimore, Memphis, Chicago, and Denver. Experts are unsure of the reason for the surge but believe that economic problems caused by the pandemic and the ease of selling car parts for money may be to blame.
Carjacking obtained notoriety in the United States after media attention was given to a number of incidents in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In one case in Howard County, Maryland, in September 1992, a mother was placing her small infant in the car seat when two criminals approached her and forcibly took possession of the car with the child in the back seat. Believing that her child was at great risk, the victim attempted to retrieve her child from the car seat while the carjackers were preparing to speed away in her car. During this attempt to free her child, the victim’s arm was caught in the seat-belt mechanism and she was dragged several miles to her death. The media focus on this crime and similar violent car thefts resulted in national attention on this ever-increasing problem. Later that year, Congress passed a law making carjacking a federal crime.
Bibliography
Bureau of Justice Statistics. Carjackings in the United States, 1992–1996. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, 1999.
"Car thefts and carjackings are up. Unreliable data makes it hard to pinpoint why." Fast Company, 13 Feb. 2024, www.fastcompany.com/91028032/car-thefts-and-carjackings-are-up-unreliable-data-makes-it-hard-to-pinpoint-why. Accessed 24 June 2024.
Jacobs, Bruce. “The Manipulation of Fear in Carjacking.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 42.5 (2013): 523–544. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 25 May 2016.
Klaus, Patsy. Bureau of Justice Statistics Crime Data Brief, National Crime Victimization Survey: Carjacking, 1993–2002. Washington, DC: Office of Justice Programs, US Dept. of Justice, July 2004. Digital file.
Rand, Michael R. Carjacking, National Crime Victimization Survey. Crime Data Brief: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1994.
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