Riyadh tops most car thefts

With a total of 61,321 car thefts between 2010 and 2015, Riyadh tops the list of cities where the negative trend is rising, says a study. The city is a magnet for people seeking work from other towns and villages in Saudi Arabia and abroad. It has a population of 6 million, with 5.5 million […]

With a total of 61,321 car thefts between 2010 and 2015, Riyadh tops the list of cities where the negative trend is rising, says a study.
The city is a magnet for people seeking work from other towns and villages in Saudi Arabia and abroad. It has a population of 6 million, with 5.5 million living in the city, and Saudis making up 66 percent.
Mohammad bin Nayef Saleh of Naif Arab University for Security Sciences who has concluded the study “Strategic Vision to Fight Vehicle Theft in Riyadh Region” said there were around 882,000 housing units, with 725,000 of them in the city itself.
The study showed Riyadh’s population has grown rapidly from 26,000 in 1931, with this urbanization resulting in increased car theft and other offenses such as drifting.
The study showed that despite hefty penalties, car theft was still increasing. In 2014 there were 9,000 stolen, with the police recovering 4,200. This increased in 2015 to 20,136 vehicles. In Makkah, car theft increased to 2,881 and in Dammam to 1,325 cars.
In Riyadh region, the study showed most theft took place after dark when vehicles were not monitored, in service lanes and on the fringes of neighborhoods, and mostly of new cars.