Roll Call. ‘Your life is not worth your car.’ Never resist carjackers

Undoubtedly, you have read the headlines over the past year regarding the carjacking surge in the Chicago area. This includes the city of Chicago and the suburbs, and it has spread much farther west of Chicago than originally publicized.

A carjacking is one of the scariest things that can happen to a driver. It is violent and frequently the victims are held at gun or knifepoint. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, an average of 49,000 carjackings occur in the United States each year.

Why do they happen?

Carjackings occur for many reasons. Sometimes they involve an offender fleeing a crime scene and committing a carjacking to get away. Other times it’s gang initiation. But more than likely these crimes are committed by juveniles who carjack victims so they can use the stolen car to continue to commit crimes for usually another two to three days. The crimes they commit likely will be street robberies, armed robberies, retail thefts and, in some cases, car burglaries where offenders travel from Chicago into the suburbs and commit car burglaries at night and then return to the city. This is a typical pattern happening in suburban communities.

Who can be affected by carjackings?

The short answer is everyone. Since carjacking is a crime of opportunity, carjackers often do not specifically choose people. Rather, they choose location, circumstances (what is going on) and distracted drivers. They also target people driving alone and typically like to target females.

Often, carjackers look to commit this violent crime at self-serve gas stations, intersections with no stoplights, parking garages, residential driveways and highway ramps. There is a growing carjacking scenario in which the offender’s strategy is to bump your car from behind, resulting in a minor fender bender. When both drivers pull over, the carjackers jump out of their vehicle and carjack you at gun or knifepoint while you are inspecting your vehicle or looking to exchange information because of the crash.

Strategies to combat carjackings are relatively straightforward, even simplistic, but they do really work at times. Park in well-lit areas, always be hyperaware of your surroundings, equip your car with an anti-theft device, lock your doors while driving, avoid driving alone at night (when possible) and do not stop for apparent stranded strangers/cars along the roadway. If you want to help in that situation, call 911 and report the disabled car or report a driver or person in need of assistance. Do not stop.

Also, if you think you are being followed, drive immediately to an area with lots of lights and people. If possible, drive to the nearest police station. Several times when I was police chief in Riverside, a person would come into the police lobby and say they were being followed by someone. When they pulled in front of the police department and came into our lobby, that individual continued to drive by. We were able to escort the person home to ensure they got there safely.

Never resist a carjacker. Your life is not worth your car. That is an absolute truth. We have all heard about cases in which car owners have been shot or stabbed during carjackings because they did not want to give up their vehicle. Do not fall into that category.

In a recent interview on NPR radio, the host interviewed several juveniles who had been convicted of carjackings and asked them what drove them to commit that crime. Every one of them said it was a crime of opportunity. They wanted quick cash and to have a vehicle that they could continue to commit crimes in for a short time. None of them said they wanted to harm individuals. But those who did, at least in this interview, said they were forced to. In their words it was because the owners of the vehicles resisted giving up the car. One juvenile, who was convicted of shooting a driver, said he felt he needed to fire his weapon in order to get away. Fortunately for the victim, the crime committed by this juvenile did not result in death.

So this goes to my point. Do not resist carjackers, no matter the situation. Again, the vehicle is not worth suffering injury … or worse.

Tom Weitzel is former chief of Riverside Police Department.