655 cars and trucks stolen in the past month in Mississauga and Brampton: Police
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Thieves in Mississauga and Brampton are stealing cars and trucks by the hundreds each month as auto theft continues to be a growing concern for Peel Regional Police. While car/truck thefts and carjackings are on the rise across the GTA and southern Ontario, the crime is especially trending upwards in Peel, police have said repeatedly the past couple of years. Among other factors, the close proximity of Mississauga and Brampton to a series of major highways and locations through which stolen vehicles can quickly be shipped out of town — and out of the country — partially explains the rapid rise of the crime in Peel, cops have said.
The latest numbers from Peel police show that 655 cars and trucks were stolen across the region in the last 31 days, between this past Dec.
13 and today. Of those, 328 vehicles were stolen in Brampton and 325 from Mississauga. One vehicle was stolen in each of Caledon and Toronto in cases investigated by Peel cops.
Police are still investigating 601 of those auto theft incidents while 44 are unsolved. Ten cases have been solved, according to investigators.
Peel Regional Police auto theft map shows cluster of thefts in the past 31 days. In a previous 27-day period, from this past Nov.
19 through Dec.
16, there were 556 auto thefts across Peel — 314 in Mississauga and 242 in Brampton, according to police statistics. From Jan.
1, 2023 through this past Dec.
16, Peel police say they investigated a record 7,637 vehicle thefts[1] in the region’s two cities. Of those, 4,334 were reported in Mississauga and 3,303 in Brampton.
That 2023 figure is up dramatically from the nearly 6,000 vehicle thefts reported in Peel in 2022. In an ongoing effort to battle the significant increase in car thefts in Mississauga and Brampton, Peel police will host the 51st annual Vehicle Crimes Conference[2] this coming May 6-9 at the Mississauga Convention Centre. The four-day event is being staged by Peel cops in collaboration with the U.S.-based Northeast Regional Chapter of the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators.
The police conference will feature numerous guest speakers, workshops and other components all geared toward fighting the growing crime of auto theft in Peel, the GTA and southern Ontario, and across North America, organizers say. Speaking at a press conference last March after police had recovered dozens of Range Rovers and other luxury vehicles[3] worth more than £10 million that were stolen from homes in Mississauga and Brampton and destined for the Middle East, Peel’s police chief noted car theft rings are a huge problem. Peel police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said at the time that car thefts are dramatically increasing, particularly in Mississauga and Brampton where the per capita rate is the highest in the country.
“To say auto theft is an epidemic across Canada and Ontario would be an understatement,” Duraiappah said at the time. He and other Peel police brass have continued to point out the prevalence of the crime in the region and insist they’re taking steps to combat auto theft. Last fall, a provincial task force was created in response to the growing number of violent car thefts/carjackings in the GTA and beyond.
The Provincial Carjacking Joint Task Force[4] is led by OPP and Toronto Police and includes a number of other law enforcement agencies, including Peel police.
insauga’s Editorial Standards and Policies[5] advertising
References
- ^ investigated a record 7,637 vehicle thefts (www.insauga.com)
- ^ 51st annual Vehicle Crimes Conference (www.insauga.com)
- ^ recovered dozens of Range Rovers and other luxury vehicles (www.insauga.com)
- ^ Provincial Carjacking Joint Task Force (www.insauga.com)
- ^ insauga’s Editorial Standards and Policies (www.insauga.com)