Buffalo Region Has Highest Auto Theft Rate in New York State
The New York Insurance Association said this month the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area has the highest vehicle theft rate in New York State. The region had a vehicle theft rate of 161.19 thefts per 100,000 inhabitants in 2011.
The Buffalo-Niagara Falls area had the highest vehicle theft rate in the state since at least 2007, according to the association. On the other hand, the Elmira metro area was found to have the lowest theft rate in the state — with a vehicle theft rate of 30.39 per 100,000 inhabitants last year.
In a new report, the National Insurance Crime Bureau outlined the 2011 vehicle theft rates on a per capita basis for the 12 “Metropolitan Statistical Areas” in New York State. These regions are designated by the Office of Management and Budget.
The ranking for New York regions is in the following order: Buffalo-Niagara Falls; New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island; Rochester; Syracuse; Albany-Schenectady-Troy; Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown; Binghamton; Kingston; Glenn Falls; Utica-Rome; Ithaca; and Elmira.
The report noted theft rates in New York State remain far below the national norm.
“The vehicle theft rates in the metropolitan areas of New York State rank in the lower one-half of the nation,” Ellen Melchionni, president of New York Insurance Association said. Even Buffalo-Niagara Falls — the metropolitan area with the highest vehicle theft rate in New York State — is 183 out of the 366 Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the report, Melchionni observed. The Elmira area, which has the lowest theft rate in the state, ranks second to last in all Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the nation.
The report said most areas in New York State had lower thefts in 2011 than they experienced in 2010. Only the Glens Falls and Binghamton areas reported an increase. “The lower theft rates are a reflection of the commitment of the insurance industry and law enforcement to crack down on theft,” Melchionni said. “Drivers taking precautions to prevent their vehicles from being stolen has also been critical to reducing thefts.”