The partnership continues to drive auto theft down. The Authority, created under Act 171 of 1994, is a partnership bringing together law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, the courts, the auto insurance industry and the public. Thirteen police agencies and prosecutors' offices have received grant funding from the Authority since 1996. To date, the Authority has awarded more than $25.6 million to help these local auto theft units add additional personnel and specialized equipment, as well as to alert the public to anti-theft measures.

The Uniform Crime Report (UCR), compiled each year by the Pennsylvania State Police, is the most complete indicator of criminal activity available. The 1999 UCR data, released in October, shows that motor vehicle theft declined in 1999 for the fifth consecutive year, roughly the same period the Authority has been in existence. Reported vehicle thefts dropped 9.7 percent from the previous year - more than double 1998's rate of decline - and have gone down 22.7 percent since 1995.

With Pennsylvania reporting the fewest vehicle thefts since the UCR's implementation in the early 1970s, it is apparent that the partnership is having an impact.

Local units demonstrate effectiveness of focused effort. During 1999-2000, the Authority awarded a total of $5.9 million in grants to auto theft units to help arrest and prosecute auto thieves. The graphs and charts later in this report (beginning on page 14) give evidence of their impact.

Forty-one percent of the cases closed by the grantees during 1999-2000 were classified as "transportation" cases - vehicles were stolen by individuals who wanted to use them to get from one point to another, including so called "joy-riding" crimes by juveniles. "For-profit" operations accounted for more than a third of all cases.

The grantees reported tremendous successes in recovering stolen vehicles and parts. During the past fiscal year, they brought in some $28.3 million in recovered vehicles and $4.9 million in parts. Their investigations and prosecution led to more than $1.5 million in restitution being ordered by the courts and nearly $123,000 in fines and civil penalties.

These investigative units, since 1996, are responsible for recovering almost $97 million worth of stolen cars and parts through June 2000. That's nearly four times the total amount of the Authority's grants earmarked through the year 2002 - a very good return on the partnership's investment.

Public involvement grows: VIN etching increases awareness. Public involvement grows: VIN etching increases awareness. Since the Authority, its grantees and local police agencies began offering free vehicle identification number (VIN) etching in 1998, the number of vehicles carrying this added layer of protection has grown dramatically. VIN etching is a process of permanently marking a vehicle's unique number onto all of its windows, making it less desirable to thieves, who would have to replace the glass in order to resell it.

During 1999, the Authority and local auto theft units etched 2,856 cars. Another 846 cars were etched in the first six months of 2000.

Local news organizations helped by promoting the events and, in some cases, covered the activities live. They also found other aspects of the anti-auto-theft education effort to be worthy of coverage.

For example, TV reporters in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh demonstrated the speed with which professional car "choppers" can dismantle a stolen car, and they offered prevention tips to their viewers. A TV news anchor in Harrisburg broadcast multiple live reports from the Authority's headquarters, during which they VIN etched the TV news van, scouted nearby parking lots for obvious theft targets and coached viewers on better ways to protect their vehicles.

With these and other stories covered in the first half of 2000, the Authority helped generate more than 45 minutes of television news time across the state on anti-theft topics.