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It happens in less than 20 seconds in broad daylight.  It happens at home, work, school, and always when you least expect it…your motorized scooter/moped gets ripped off.  Scooter theft is on the rise all over the nation and more recently here in Wichita.  Approximately 95,684 auto thefts occurred nationwide in 2008, with scooters becoming a growing share of that number.  With the number of scooter thefts on the increase, we could see less than 14 percent of them recovered.

According to statistics provided by the Wichita Police Department on their website, overall crime for 2009 has decreased compared to 2008, but spiked this past July, with Auto Theft (includes scooters) always being a major player.  According to other national statistics and what little I could dig up about Wichita, these types of thefts could hit old town districts like our own Delano District and Old Town areas with increased frequency; okay…now what?

After you’ve gotten past the feeling of being violated and you’ve moved on to just plain pissed, there are a few steps you can take.  File a police report!  It doesn’t matter if you don’t think it’ll do any good; file a report anyway.  If you have a My Space or Facebook account, post what happened and when, including as much detail about the scooter as possible (pictures are best.)  You just never know when friend #126 will be living next door to the loser who stole your scooter and report it after reading your post.  It’s called NETWORKING people, use it to your advantage, or delete your account.

Now, don’t get your panties in a twist if you currently own a scooter and it’s still parked outside…it is still parked outside isn’t it?  I’ll wait, go look.  Just because you own one and you live or work in areas prone to this kind of theft doesn’t mean you’re next.  There are anti-theft steps you can take.  Before we go on, I feel responsible to make one thing perfectly clear…if someone wants to commit a crime bad enough, they’re going to do it regardless of the steps you’ve taken to prevent it.  The steps you do take will drastically reduce your risk of theft, and can save you time, money, and from having to walk to work.

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