Only 10% of car thefts solved

One in 10 car thefts are solved in Auckland.

While police curbed the crime last year, they struggled to lock up those who got away with, according to new statistics.

In Counties-Manukau, the number of stolen cars dropped from 9789 in 2008-2009 to 8302 this year.

But only 9.6 per cent of those thefts were solved.

The district commander, Superintendent Mike Bush, said it was a difficult crime to arrest people for.

"We either rely on stopping people while they're in the stolen cars or we rely on forensic evidence, and they're quite good at not leaving any forensic evidence," he said.

"Every car we recover undergoes a forensic examination. We put quite a resource into this kind of policing."

Mr Bush said stolen vans were of particular concern because they could be used to move stolen goods as well as parts.

Manurewa ward councillor David Newman said the latest figures showed the 300 new police allocated to the district were making their mark. "More police on the beat [is] having a big impact."

In Auckland City, the number of car thefts fell 16 per cent - from 12,881 in 2008-2009 to 12,564.

But just one in 11 of these cases was solved.

In Waitemata, one in nine car thefts were solved. There was a 6 per cent drop in the crime.

Detective Inspector Bruce Scott said preventing the crime was given priority over solving historic cases.

He said the district had introduced a number of initiatives to prevent "volume" crime in the last year.

"These operations have been successful in reducing incidents of car theft as well as numerous thefts ex [from] cars."

A Weekend Herald investigation this year found that the 6500 cars stolen each year and never recovered were a huge source of business for gangs. The vehicles were stolen for parts or "rebirth" into legitimate cars.

The insurance industry estimates that 40,000 cars are stolen each year - double police figures - and says just one case in five is solved.

A plan to introduce compulsory whole-of-vehicle marking for car imports was scrapped by Transport Minister Steven Joyce, despite strong support from the Ministry of Justice and the police.

The car theft figures were released as part of national crime statistics.

Across New Zealand crime dropped 1.3 per cent - compared with a 2.8 per cent rise from the 2008-2009 year.

Police Minister Judith Collins said the reductions in crime were encouraging but the Government and police would not relax the pressure on criminals.

Vehicle crime

Counties-Manukau: Thefts down 16 per cent, 1 in 10 solved.

Auckland City: Thefts down 2.5 per cent, 1 in 11 solved.

Waitemata: Thefts down 6 per cent, 1 in 9 solved.