The Matteson Police Department has joined a growing list of law enforcement agencies in Illinois working with Hyundai to prevent what police say is an alarming problem.
The department is now one of 17 agencies working with the car company amid a rash of thefts, offering residents a tool to help prevent them.
“It’s a criminal trend that is very disconcerting,” said Matteson Police Chief Michael Jones. “It’s regional, it’s likely national, I saw reports out of Milwaukee and other big cities.”
The department rolled out a new program to give away steering wheel locks to Hyundai owners in Matteson—all in hopes to deter criminals from stealing the vehicle. Hyundai provided the locks to the department.
“We saw a lot of those (locks) 25 years ago,” he said. “It’s a good device to have. They just put it on the steering wheel, pull the bar across, turn the key to the lock position and make sure you take the key with you—don’t leave the key in the car.”
The police chief told NBC 5 his community has seen an increase of more than 500% in Hyundai vehicle thefts alone after a viral social media challenge.
The problem is surging in the south suburbs. In September, a neighbor shared surveillance video with NBC 5 showing thieves trying to steal their relative’s Hyundai in Harvey and last month, Park Forest police alerted residents to a rash of Hyundai and Kia thefts.
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“We have seen nationally a spike in stolen vehicles being used to commit further crimes so we’re trying to put a stop to that in the beginning by being more proactive preventing the thefts,” he said.
Since rolling out the program, Matteson police have given away 25 locks to eligible residents. Interested residents must show a valid ID and vehicle registration to get the lock. Residents can pick up the lock at the Matteson Police Department.
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Park Forest police also received a batch and have handed out 350 locks to its residents since starting the program.
Hyundai released this comment to NBC regarding the free locks:
"We remain concerned about the increase in thefts of certain Hyundai vehicles that have been targeted in a coordinated social media campaign. Currently, Hyundai provides steering wheel locks, as available, to law enforcement agencies in impacted areas. In addition, Hyundai will provide two other options for owners of these earlier model year vehicles targeted by thieves."
Those include:
- Hyundai has released a glass break sensor security kit that targets the method of entry used by thieves to break into these vehicles. These kits are available for purchase and installation at Hyundai dealerships and Compustar authorized installers across the country. The MSRP for the kit is $170, and the estimated cost for installation may vary by location.
- Hyundai is also developing a software update to further secure these targeted vehicles. We anticipate that this software update will become available for certain vehicles in the first half of 2023, with updates for other vehicles following thereafter.