Three years ago, Statistics Canada data showed Brantford to be the car theft capital of the country.
Auto theft is still a problem in the city, with police receiving their first report of a stolen car only two hours into 2013, but the numbers have been going down.
That’s music to the ears of residents like Mike Tutt, who has had two of his vehicles stolen over the years.
The cars were stolen despite Tutt ensuring he kept their doors locked.
“The one, the door was jimmied, and the other one they just smashed the driver’s side window,” he says.
Police say a large part of the reason the numbers are declining is Project Shutdown, a joint project between police forces in Brantford, Six Nations, Hamilton and Halton and the OPP.
“What the team has done is put their resources together, as well as include a crime analyst working on it,” says Const. Natalie Laing.
“These officers are educated on combating auto theft as well as who the players are.”
It means police in neighbouring cities can share intelligence on people who travel between towns to steal cars, and people behind the operation at a larger level.
According to police, late-model pickup trucks with expensive wheels appear to be among the most common targets for car thieves.
