York Regional Police investigators put the brakes on auto thieves
Project Auto Guard tackled auto theft in York Region’s south end head on
Collaborative, Data-Driven Enforcement
York Regional Police has grappled with a more than 200 per cent increase in auto theft over the last five years, along with the rest of the GTA, province and country.
Thieves operating in sophisticated organized criminal groups steal high-end vehicles and drive them to the Port of Montreal, where they are then loaded on shipping containers bound for lucrative overseas markets. The cost of these thefts is estimated to be more than $1 billion across Canada each year.
What was once a property crime has turned more violent, with thieves now committing residential break and enters to secure vehicle keys or committing aggressive carjackings to ensure they obtain the high-end vehicles they know will bring top dollar.
These lucrative profits then finance other criminal activities, like drug trafficking, arms dealing, human smuggling and international terrorism.
At York Regional Police, our enforcement efforts are data-driven, using dedicated, specially-trained investigative teams and acquiring specialized resources and equipment to combat auto theft and we are seeing some success.
By the Numbers
4,000
vehicles reported stolen in 2023
roughly 50%
of stolen vehicles recovered
24,000
Faraday bags distributed to York Region residents
In 2023, working in collaboration with other police services and the Canada Border Services Agency to disrupt these organized crime groups, 1,800 vehicles were recovered, which is almost 50 per cent of those stolen.
Operation Auto Guard was one example of several data-driven and intelligence-led projects in 2023. Our crime analysts created heat maps that identified specific neighbourhoods prone to vehicle thefts in the Cities of Markham, Richmond and Vaughan.
Chief Jim MacSween spoke about the impact of Project Auto Guard at a November press conference.
Proactive efforts to prevent auto theft included the distribution of 24,000 Faraday bags to region residents.
Solicitor General Michael Kerzner attended York Regional Police headquarters in November to commend investigators on their efforts in York Region.
Residents in these red zones who own high-end vehicles were notified of the risk, with officers going door-to-door to hand out crime prevention information in multiple languages and more than 24,000 Faraday bags, which are used to block the signal-duplicating devices that replicate key fobs.
Police also attended more than 100 locations, like malls, religious institutions and car dealerships, as well as community forums and events, where we educated citizens on auto thefts and how to prevent them.
YRP is also participating in the national response, with Chief Jim MacSween, in his role as the 2023 president of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, attending the National Summit on Auto Theft in Ottawa in February, which led to calls for the federal government to consider legislative changes to address the issue.
