{"id":7700,"date":"2026-08-25T15:08:35","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T15:08:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7700"},"modified":"2026-08-25T15:08:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T15:08:35","slug":"these-4-california-counties-saw-the-biggest-decline-in-vehicle-thefts-last-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7700","title":{"rendered":"These 4 California counties saw the biggest decline in vehicle thefts last year"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If you\u2019ve ever had your car stolen, you\u2019ll be happy to learn that vehicle thefts in the Inland Empire and statewide are way down. Statistics released recently from the California Highway Patrol show that California recorded its second consecutive year of declining vehicle thefts in 2025 as the CHP continues working with local law enforcement agencies to fight vehicle theft.<\/p>\n

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In San Bernardino County, vehicle thefts dropped 23.3% last year, while they dropped 21.4% in Riverside County, according to the CHP. Here are the four counties that showed the biggest decline:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Alameda County: 12,277 vehicle thefts, down 36.1% from 2024.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Kern County: 4,258 vehicle thefts, down 31.4% from 2024.<\/p>\n

\u2022 San Bernardino County: 7,759 vehicle thefts, down 23.3% from 2024.<\/p>\n

\u2022 San Diego County: 8,023 vehicle thefts, down 25.7% from 2024.<\/p>\n

CHP Capt. Lance Berns, commander of the San Bernardino area office, said that auto theft is a crime that often affects a family\u2019s livelihood, and police interdiction is critical.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a vehicle is stolen from someone, it affects their ability to go to and from work or school, pick up necessities from the grocery store, take loved ones to the hospital for medical emergencies, or simply go on a much-needed family outing,\u201d Berns said.\u00a0\u201cThe California Highway Patrol takes auto theft very seriously and will continue to uphold our commitment to the community by aggressively seeking out auto thieves and bringing them to justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Overall, according to the CHP\u2019s 2025 Vehicle Theft Fact Sheet, criminals stole 133,372 vehicles in California in 2025; this is about 25% fewer than the 176,230 stolen in 2024. Of the vehicles stolen last year, 84% were recovered and over half of those recovered vehicles were returned to their owners in drivable condition. The CHP said the rest were intentionally burned and\/or wrecked, and stripped of parts. The Riverside County Sheriff\u2019s Department was among the top 10 law enforcement agencies that recovered the most stolen vehicles.<\/p>\n

Most of the vehicle thefts statewide \u2013 about 55.8% \u2013 occurred in Southern California: in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego counties, with the lion\u2019s share of those occurring in Los Angeles County.<\/p>\n

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The CHP says the decline in vehicle thefts continues a positive trend that began in 2024, when California recorded its first year-over-year decrease in vehicle thefts since 2019. The drop began in 2024 when CHP officers began working more with local law enforcement agencies in regional crime suppression operations. T<\/p>\n

Targeted enforcement in San Bernardino, Bakersfield and Oakland has especially reduced vehicle thefts as well as crime and gun violence overall in those areas, the CHP said. In August 2025, Gov. Gavin Newsom expanded the CHP crime-suppression operations.<\/p>\n

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So, which vehicles do thieves prefer? The top three stolen cars last year were the 2013 Hyundai Elantra, the 2015 Kia Optima and the 2013 Hyundai Sonata. (These vehicles are easier to steal because certain older Kias and Hyundais lack an immobilizer anti-theft system which makes vehicles manufactured by Hyundai and Kia easy to steal. If you have one of these model years, get a steering wheel lock.)<\/p>\n

Chevrolet Silverado trucks with the model years 2001, 2002 and 2004 were the most commonly stolen trucks, and Hondas were the most commonly stolen motorcycle brand.<\/p>\n

Vehicle theft prevention tips from the CHP:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Park in well-lit areas.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Remove valuables or keep them out of sight.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Lock your vehicle every time you leave it.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Use an alarm system or other anti-theft device.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Never leave your vehicle unattended with the engine running.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Report suspicious activity to law enforcement.<\/p>\n

The CHP 2025 Vehicle Theft Fact Sheet data is compiled from the California Department of Justice, Stolen Vehicle System; the CHP\u2019s Vehicle Theft Information System; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation\u2019s Uniform Crime Reporting Program.<\/p>\n

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It’s the second year in a row, the overall number of stolen cars has decreased, CHP says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7699,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nThese 4 California counties saw the biggest decline in vehicle thefts last year - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7700\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"These 4 California counties saw the biggest decline in vehicle thefts last year - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It's the second year in a row, the overall number of stolen cars has decreased, CHP says.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7700\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-25T15:08:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7700#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7700\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"These 4 California counties saw the biggest decline in vehicle thefts last year\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-25T15:08:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7700\"},\"wordCount\":647,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7700#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/dbdf0c92128690c16007677a302a4e3a.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7700#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7700\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7700\",\"name\":\"These 4 California counties saw the biggest decline in vehicle thefts last year - 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