Montgomery County police relaunching stolen car task force
BETHESDA, Md. - Soaring car theft rates in Montgomery County have police there hitting the rewind button. They’re bringing back a disbanded unit, whose sole job will be to crack down on carjackers.
It was budget cuts back in 2021, that forced the auto theft enforcement section of the Montgomery County Police Department to shut down during a reorganization at the time.
Now, it’s back, and the officers involved have got a lot of work to do if they're going to make a dent in the county’s massive car theft problem.
The stealing of cars is out of control in Montgomery County. Auto thefts are up 84% since 2022. The revised car theft unit will zero in on hotspots like Silver Spring, Wheaton, and Bethesda. Drivers — some of whom have been victims themselves — told FOX 5 that police need to send a message to car thieves to stay out of Montgomery County.
If Montgomery County having a car theft unit sounds familiar, that’s because it already is part of a regional task in the DMV. This unit will focus on this specific jurisdiction. They’ll start with half a dozen detectives and crime analysts. And while downtown areas are big car theft areas, the officers have marching orders to work throughout the county.
"It’s not just Silver Spring and Wheaton. It’s Damascus. They might have as many," said Nicholas Augustine, the assistant police chief at the Montgomery County Police Department. "It's all through Montgomery County and by having dedicated resources to share information and collaborate efforts, we hopefully will put a significant decrease in the number of auto thefts we’re seeing."
Teenagers and young people have been fueling the car theft spike.
A big part of this initiative is not just catching criminals, but educating drivers. Car thefts are often a crime of opportunity – so Montgomery County police told FOX 5 in order for this to work, they’ve got to get drivers to stop leaving cars running and unlocked.