ICBC is boasting almost a 40-per-cent drop in automobile thefts in Pitt Meadows during the past year, compared to only a three-per-cent decrease in Maple Ridge.

The biggest drop, however, was noted when the Insurance Corporation of B.C. compared local vehicle thefts from 2012 to when ICBC and police first introduced the bait cars in 2003.

Drawing those comparisons, vehicle thefts in Maple Ridge dropped 75 per cent over the 10-year period, from 550 in 2003 to only 140 in 2012. Likewise, in Pitt Meadows, auto theft dropped a similar 72 per cent during the same period, from 100 back in 2003 to just 30 last year.

It means the deterrents are working, said RCMP Insp. Gary Shinkaruk, head of the Integrated Municipal Provincial Auto Crime Team. He noted that the declining numbers here are comparable with other Lower Mainland communities in the past decade.

ICBC also drew some comparisons in theft from vehicles for the same 10-year period, noting a decrease of 58 per cent in Maple Ridge but only a decline in 29 per cent in Pitt Meadows.

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