SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — After seeing a record number of vehicles stolen in 2023, the city of Sioux Falls is on track to see that number significantly decrease this year.
The number of stolen vehicles in Sioux Falls increased every year from 2018 to 2023. In 2023, a record 1,602 vehicles were stolen, but through November of 2024, 1,248 vehicles have been stolen.
“It seems like over the last five years, each year has been eclipsing that and setting a new record. Obviously, we’re going to break that trend to hopefully see a decrease this year and hopefully things will continue going back down that way.” Sioux Falls Police Department spokesman Sam Clemens said.
From January through November of 2023, there were 1,495 stolen vehicles, so there have been about 250 fewer thefts during the same time period in 2024.
“I think this is encouraging to see that there’s a decrease. It’s not just by one or two. I mean, if we’re looking at 250, that’s a pretty substantial number,” Clemens said.
“People in Sioux Falls are common sense people. People coming into Sioux Falls are common sense people, and it’s so simple to lock a car,” Sioux Falls resident Jeff Nelson said.
There are some things you can do to make sure that stolen vehicle numbers continue to decrease.
“What we see a lot of is people leaving keys in the car. It may be the regular set; it may be a spare set, but it’s too easy nowadays for somebody to come along, check an unlocked car, find the keys in it and then drive away with it,” Clemens said.
Police say that a couple common ways that vehicles are stolen this time of year is when people leave them unattended to warm up or when they leave them running when they park at a convenient store.
“Well, in this weather, don’t leave it running and then run into a store quick. Shut it off. It’ll start again,” Nelson said.
If your vehicle gets stolen, you can file a police report online. For information on how to do that, click here.
