Taking car theft seriously
Emporia dealer helping attorney general examine issues
By Joey Berlin
Friday, November 30, 2007
Stealing an automobile may be morally reprehensible, but in Kansas, it’s a fairly low-risk crime.
If you want to rip a car — say, a 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass, the most popular vehicle to steal in Kansas in the year 2004 — and go for a joyride, chances are, you won’t get caught. And if you do get caught, and theft is the only thing you’re charged with, you’ll likely only face probation.
Auto dealers in Kansas, including Emporia City Commissioner Jeff Longbine, have been frustrated by recent increases in dealership auto thefts. During last year’s election season, some auto dealers contacted both candidates for state attorney general to see if, upon election, they would be willing to help auto dealers do something about it.
Now Longbine is one of about 18 members of a statewide discussion group assembled by Attorney General Paul Morrison to examine all aspects of the state’s handling of vehicle theft issues, from prevention to punishment.
“We’re really excited about the attorney general’s willingness to work with us on this,” Longbine said.
Longbine is one of four members of the Kansas Auto Dealers Association taking part in the discussion group. Another member, KADA President Don McNeely, said the group also includes staff from the attorney general’s office, the Sedgwick County district attorney’s office, the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, and other law enforcement.
The group held its first meeting on Nov. 6. Longbine said it is scheduled to meet once a month for right now, then will meet more often as time goes on. The group’s next meeting is on Dec. 18.
Longbine said the discussion group is focused on tackling all three levels of the vehicle theft issue: What dealers can do to protect their inventory and prevent vehicle theft, what law enforcement can do to be more successful at apprehending thieves and what needs to be done at the prosecution level.
McNeely said the movement that yielded the discussion group began with Wichita auto dealers frustrated with thefts.
“It’s been a problem in the Sedgwick County area for quite some time,” he said. “But it’s now starting to spread across the state.”
The dealers contacted both Morrison and Phill Kline during last year’s attorney general race. After Morrison was elected and put his staff in place, he authorized the creation of the discussion group.
The group is an informal body, and there’s no blueprint for how it will operate. It will explore the issue at each meeting and eventually intends to issue recommendations.
“Our goal, obviously, is to reduce auto theft in Kansas and to develop a comprehensive, statewide approach to career car thieves,” Morrison spokesperson Ashley Anstaett said.
Anstaett acknowledges there are problems at all three levels. One problem is the fact that a conviction for auto theft in Kansas, by itself, isn’t usually punishable by prison time. For example, theft of an item greater in value than $25,000 can be punishable by 11-13 months in prison — but those convictions usually result in presumptive probation instead.
That type of leniency isn’t unique to Kansas, and a theft charge involving a vehicle is often tied in with other charges. But it’s an example of what frustrates auto dealers.
“A lot of this stuff started back when they redid the sentencing guidelines in Kansas,” McNeely said. “They moved nonpersonal felonies ... down the sentencing grid, essentially putting less emphasis on nonperson felonies and more emphasis on the felonies against an actual person: the murderer, the drug problem, that sort of thing. And those are the crimes that are getting the jail time. Because jail space in Kansas is limited as well, especially in certain parts of the state.”
In the past five years, five vehicles have been stolen from Longbine’s Emporia dealership, Longbine Auto Plaza. The last theft occurred earlier this year, when a Chevrolet S-10 was taken. The S-10 was valued at about $5,000.
“The Emporia Police Department did solve it,” Longbine said, “and that gentleman was prosecuted.”
That was the exception, though — all four of the other thefts in that span remain unsolved. One of those four vehicles was recovered.
To Longbine, the value of the vehicle stolen should be key in determining whether a conviction results in prison time.
“On a $5,000 S-10, that’s maybe in the gray area,” he said. “But on a $50,000 Suburban, yeah, I think maybe it should.”
McNeely said the Nov. 6 meeting was an “exploratory” effort that brought all members together to listen to each other’s opinions. He doesn’t yet have steps in mind to be taken, or recommendations for the group to make.
“That’s what we’re currently trying to examine,” he said. “We’re going to look at whether or not there needs to be a legislative fix. We’re looking at also possibly looking at model cities — maybe three or four model cities across the state — and (ways) of encouraging their local law enforcement officials to target these type of crimes.”
Anstaett said Morrison isn’t ready to discuss changes to auto theft laws yet, but she said some of the discussion group’s work will probably end up on the legislative floor. She said it’s hoped that something will be developed for the coming legislative session beginning in January.