By AP/KWMU
St. Louis, MO – St. Louis police are pleased with their efforts to reduce car thefts in the city.
The department put 30 officers on the car theft beat last August. Thefts had been increasing but they started to decrease during the last three months of 2003. During that time, a car was stolen every 52 minutes; it had been every 44 minutes at one point.
Criminologists add fewer thefts might also mean thieves have moved on to something else.
Since 30-officer anti-crime task force began, there have been about 330 arrests. Two-thirds of the arrests have resulted in criminal charges. That's double the rate issued on such arrests by uniformed officers.