Motor vehicle theft in Connecticut last year soared 33 percent over 2022, a percentage increase behind only Washington, D.C., and Maryland, the National Insurance Crime Bureau reported.

The 9,422 reported auto thefts last year the state represented 261.09 thefts per 100,000 people, the highest in New England. Motor vehicle thefts nationwide also have kept rising since 2020, according to the nonprofit NICB, which tracks crime and fraud affecting insurance companies and customers.

Connecticut lawmakers have tried to curb car theft, in part by hiking penalties against juvenile offenders. In August 2023, police in the state reported a higher rate of juveniles being arrested on car theft charges than in the same period in 2022. In Hartford, for instance, of arrests made by the Greater Hartford Regional Auto Theft Task Force in that period, 55 percent were juveniles.

"The two main objectives are pleasure and joyriding and using something that doesn't belong to them to commit another crime," East Hartford Police Officer Marc Caruso said of juvenile car thieves.

In 2021, lawmakers created a Class A misdemeanor for anyone age 23 and older who entices a minor to commit a motor vehicle property crime. Legislation also allowed the state Department of Children and Families to investigate the quality of a youth perpetrator's home environment. Last year, Gov. Ned Lamont signed a law meant to enable law enforcement and the courts to respond more effectively to youths charged with repeated motor vehicle theft and other crimes.

More than one million vehicles were reported stolen across the country and overall vehicle thefts increased from 1,008,756 in 2022 to 1,020,729 in 2023. California accounted for the highest number of vehicle thefts nationwide in 2023, with 208,668 vehicles reported stolen. The District of Columbia had the highest theft rate last year with 1,149.71 thefts per 100,000 people, which is over three times the national rate.

Urban centers and densely populated areas remained hot targets for car thieves. In the New Haven-Milford area, according to NICB, motor vehicle thefts rose 37 percent, from 2,742 to 3,758, representing 432.19 thefts per 100,000 people. Hartford police reported 1,160 motor vehicle thefts last year, up 101 percent from 2022, and Bridgeport police tallied 601 thefts in 2023, up from 576 the year before, according to the city's website.

"Criminals are employing increasingly sophisticated methods to steal vehicles, including the use of advanced technology to bypass security systems," NICB President and CEO David J. Glawe said. "From keyless entry hacks to relay attacks on key fobs, perpetrators are exploiting vulnerabilities in modern vehicle security measures with alarming success rates. It is critical that industry and law enforcement work together to develop more effective strategies for combating auto theft and safeguarding public safety."

Thieves can easily hack key fob codes to steal vehicles, according to a recent story in the Detroit Free Press, which offers tips on how to avoid becoming a victim.

The surge in thefts in Connecticut and across the nation since the start of the COVID pandemic reversed decades of declines in stolen motor vehicles. In 2000, according to the FBI, 1.2 million car thefts were tallied in the U.S. compared to 721,885 in 2019. The total in 2022 was the first time since 2008 that auto thefts nationally exceeded one million annually, the NICB reported.

Lack of anti-theft devices in some Hyundai and Kia vehicles contributed to the increase as thieves targeted those cars, experts say, but for years, the most-often stolen car in Connecticut, according to NICB, has been the Honda Accord.

Connecticut's auto theft rate increased from 168 thefts per 100,000 in population in 2019 to 236.8 per 100,000 in 2020. Nationally, the FBI said the rate increased from 220 cars per 100,000 in population in 2019 to 246 per 100,000 in 2020.