Amid the recent legislative crackdown on New Jersey car thefts, LNN conducted an in-depth review of the incidents of car theft reported in 2022. By mid-November, Lakewood had reported 86 thefts, or an average of 7.47 thefts a month. Looking at the map, there are clearly areas that are more hard-hit than others. 

Territorial Breakdown: 

Different areas exhibit either a clear propensity to this type of crime, or clear avoidance of it. 

Westgate car thefts

Approximately 17.45% of thefts occurred in Westgate. Granted that Westgate is a much more densely populated area than many other sections of town, however, the entire walking the perimeter of Westgate is approximately 1.7-2 miles

By comparison, the entire area bound by Cedarbridge Avenue, Route 9, and Route 70, which is a total of an 11 mile perimeter, had only 10 thefts, or 11.62%  in the same time period.

The Annual Breakdown:

As you would expect, the summer months also show the highest number of offenses. Spiking at 15 for July, August and September came in at 12 and 11 respectively. Together, these three months comprise a whopping 44% of the recorded thefts. A similar three-month span from January to March results in just 29% of the thefts.

There are also differences between the motivations and types of thefts taking place. Some bad actors focus on high-end automobile thefts. These thefts are usually the work of larger organized crime rings. The cars are often tagged by the makers with GPS tracking devices. Cars like this from Lakewood have been recovered in different areas of the country. Lower-end vehicles are usually targeted by petty-cash thieves, who ‘got lucky,’ and found a set of keys when looking for money. These types are often seeking funds for drugs, alcohol. In some cases, cars are simply stolen for a joyride. In the last two instances, the unfortunate end is often an accident due to an inexperienced driver.