Achi news desk-
A new poll by Nanos Research for CTV News has found that a majority of Canadians doubt whether police can find stolen cars.
Conducted early this week, the survey of just over 1,000 adults across the country asked respondents to rate their confidence in law enforcement’s response to car theft, a problem that has grown for years across the country.
Among those questioned, 38 per cent said they were not confident in the police’s recovery efforts, with a further 30 per cent indicating they were somewhat distrustful. Only four percent of the sample indicated more than some confidence that the police could find stolen vehicles.
Respondents were also asked how those efforts have changed over time, particularly within the last decade.
The largest proportion of those questioned felt negatively, with just over 40 per cent saying, either somewhat or strongly, that the police were doing a worse job than 10 years earlier. Another 26 percent said they felt things were about the same, but only about 15 percent said efforts to recover lost vehicles had improved since 2014. Seventeen percent said they were unsure.
Responses varied by demographic group, and by region, across Canada.
Regarding the current outlook on car disappearances and recoveries, respondents in the Prairies and British Columbia, as well as women and older Canadians, were more likely to express confidence in law enforcement capabilities.
Women and older Canadians were also more likely to report that they felt the police were doing a better job of recovering lost cars than 10 years earlier. But geographically, those positive feelings were more common in Ontario and Quebec, compared to the Atlantic and western provinces.
Car theft in ’emergency’
Recent years have seen an increase in lost or stolen cars across the country, with one 2023 report from the non-profit organization Équité identifying Canada as a “source nation” for organized crime networks, amid a “car theft crisis national.”
According to the organization’s research, recorded car thefts in Toronto rose by about 34 per cent year-on-year in the first half of 2023, to 5,077 from 3,778 over the same period in 2022. Car theft rose by about 22 and 12 per cent in Fredericton roughly. and Montreal, respectively, in that time.
“Addressing this worsening issue is an important step to keeping Canadians safe and preventing the flow of money to organized crime,” the Équité report reads.
“The profit margin is high and worth the low risk as a result of criminals.”
This year, officials across all three levels of government have announced efforts to combat the issue, including a February announcement by the federal Liberals of $28 million to help the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) combat vehicle exports after u stealing and anti-auto- national. theft summit of federal, state and municipal leaders the same month.
More recently, the federal government has announced $15 million in anti-theft funding to provincial, territorial and municipal law enforcement agencies, as well as to INTERPOL and other partners.
There are also some signs of improvement: early data from the Toronto Police showed a drop in car thefts in January, and in April, a joint operation between the CBSA and other police services called “Project Vector” recovered 598 vehicles, valued in the tens of millions. of dollars, according to Wednesday’s announcement.
“Project Vector has disrupted the criminal networks that exploit the Canadian export market to sell stolen vehicles,” Ontario Provincial Police Deputy Commissioner Marty Kearns said in a statement.
“[The Provincial Auto Theft and Towing Team] continues to assist police and justice partners to identify, disrupt and dismantle organized crime networks involved in vehicle crime.”
Methodology
The 2024 survey by Nanos Research was conducted by telephone and online between March 31 and April 1, 2024 among a random sample of 1,069 Canadian adults. The margin of error for this survey is plus or minus three percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The percentages may not add up to 100, due to rounding. Survey results weighted to reflect population proportions; other data considerations may apply.
