Buffalo Leads State In Car Thefts; NYS Way Below National Rates

(WBEN) - The New York Insurance Association said Thursday the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area has the highest vehicle theft rate in New York State, according to federal data. .

The metro area -- which is defined as all of Erie and Niagara Counties -- had a vehicle theft rate of more than 161 thefts per 100,000 residents in 2011, which means you have a less than 0.2 percent percent of having your ride ripped off.

In fact, even though Buffalo - Niagara Falls leads the state in this dubious category, it ranked 183rd out of 366 metro areas measured -- or, exactly halfway down the list, based on information from the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NCIB)

“The vehicle theft rates in the metropolitan areas of New York State rank in the lower one-half of the nation,”  says association Pres. Ellen
Melchionni, in a prepared statement.

  “Even Buffalo-Niagara Falls, the metropolitan area with the highest vehicle theft rate in New York State, is 183 out of the 366 MSAs in the NICB report, and Elmira ranks second to last of all MSAs in the nation,” she says.

Ten of the 12 MSAs in New York State reported lower thefts in 2011 than they experienced in 2010. Only the Glens Falls and Binghamton MSAs reported an increase, the association said.

Nationally, Fresno California tops the list. Modesto and Bakersfield in California and Spokane and Yakima round out the top five, according to the NICIB.
 
CLICK HERE FOR THE Entire NCIB Report