Police say Las Vegans can do more to stop record auto thefts

They seem like no-brainers: Don't leave your keys in your car. Lock your car when you leave it. Hide valuables inside your car when you park.

Those are some of the things the public can do to lower Clark County's auto theft rate, which was the worst in the nation last year. Too many Clark County residents don't take those simple precautions, authorities said.

"I will never ever blame the victim of auto theft and say they had it coming. But as a community, we need to do a better job of taking care of our property," said Lt. Robert Duvall of the Las Vegas police's auto theft unit.

He said, for example, that 20 percent of vehicles stolen in Clark County have the keys inside at the time of the theft.

"We can't make it easy on the thieves," he said.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau announced this week that Clark County had the nation's highest rate of vehicle theft in 2006. There were 22,441 vehicles stolen in Clark County last year, a rate of 1,311 vehicles for every 100,000 residents.

Stockton, Calif., was the area with the second highest rate of auto theft in 2006, followed by Visalia-Porterville in central California.

"Consumers need to be pro-active in keeping themselves from being victims of auto theft or victims of crime," said Jim Denton, spokesman for the Nevada Insurance Council.

He said the steps can be as easy as not leaving your car running when you run into a store for a quick errand.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau also advised motorists to park in well-lighted areas and install anti-theft technology such as alarms or vehicle tracking systems such as Lojack in their vehicles.

Tim Bedwell, spokesman for the North Las Vegas police, said some people move to Las Vegas from lower-crime areas and often aren't accustomed to taking simple anti-theft measures like locking their doors.

Authorities have said the Las Vegas Valley is a "target-rich environment" for auto thieves because of its burgeoning population and the area's high number of vehicle garages and parking lots. Police said on Tuesday vehicles are not frequently stolen from casino parking garages because of the higher levels of security at those locations.

Duvall said police are also working to make sure Clark County fares better in the next annual ranking.

This year, for example, the police have started using an electronic "license plate reader" that is mounted in police vehicles and reads license plates. The device then compares the plates to a database of stolen and wanted vehicles.

Duvall said the license plate readers have already recovered 120 stolen vehicles and resulted in 20 arrests.

He also said the multi-agency Viper task force, which cracks down on car theft in Clark County, has shut down at least 40 chop shops in the county.

While those and other programs have led to a decrease in auto theft in Las Vegas, Duvall said it isn't enough. He said the sting of known Clark County is No. 1 in the nation for car theft has left the police with a goal for 2007: Don't be known as No. 1 one for auto theft in 2008.