Madison County, Illinois reports a 24% drop in vehicle thefts over the past two years, bucking trends in the region.
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Statewide, vehicle thefts were up more than 30% in Illinois, and up more than 90 percent in the city of St. Louis. Madison County State's Attorney Tom Haine was asked what's the secret? "We are taking proactive measures in Madison County in coordination with the law enforcement agencies in Madison County. We've created the Cross River Crime Task Force. We've had multiple deployments. We're being very active with prosecution and charging and we think that does have an impact."
The task force in Illinois uses license plate readers and rapid-response units of police from surrounding towns to go after people with outstanding warrants that come riding into Madison County from Missouri. Haine says it appears the word is getting out.
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