Alissiea Hernandez

Community utilizes social media to combat rise in auto thefts

Auto theft is on the rise in Albuquerque, resulting in thousands of victims in recent years, many of whom are taking on an active role to combat the issue by utilizing social media to spread information on stolen vehicles and seek help from the online community. Albuquerque nearly tops the chart for being the worst city in the country for auto theft, closely following Modesto, California, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. An Information of Public Records request revealed that 7,351 cases of auto theft were reported in 2016, a 62 percent increase from when the trend began in 2012.