BELLEVUE, Wash. — The Bellevue Police Department (BPD) is launching a new motor vehicle theft program focused on addressing trends in auto theft. It comes after the city saw a 45% increase in thefts year over year, with a nearly 800% increase in thefts of Kia and Hyundai vehicles specifically, according to a city spokesperson.
"It's groups of, primarily juveniles, that are committing these crimes," Bellevue Police Officer Seth Tyler said. "That's driven by this online, Kia Boyz phenomenon that we've seen. So we're going to be going after these groups, even if we're filing in juvenile court, we'll be doing that."
BPD said as part of the new task force, crime prevention analysts will monitor case information and analyze data to identify repeat offenders and pinpoint areas at high-risk throughout the city.
"Working specifically to target those high-level offenders that are stealing the most number of cars in our city, and arrest those individuals and hold them accountable," Tyler said.
The department says it saw most categories of crime in Bellevue decrease in 2023, including reductions in residential and commercial burglaries — but auto theft continues to increase.
"That's affecting everyone's insurance rates in Washington no matter what you drive," Tyler said. "So it's important to us to get this number down so that not only we can help these owners of the vehicles getting stolen but really everyone that drives in the state."
Officers said the stolen vehicles are often used in other crimes — then left abandoned. They may be recovered, but are often totaled and unusable by the owners.
In addition to the task force, Bellevue police have been working to prevent theft with education, steering wheel lock giveaways, and outreach specifically to owners of Kia and Hyundai, putting cards on their dashboards informing them of available safety software.