Texas Communities Combat Crime Thanks to New Grant Funding

Texas Department of Motor Vehicles sent this bulletin at 07/09/2020 11:34 AM CDT
MVCPA logo

NEWS RELEASE

Texas Communities Combat Crime
Thanks to New Grant Funding 

You can protect yourself from auto burglary and theft

(AUSTIN, Texas – July 9, 2020) Watch out, auto burglars and thieves! Texas communities are fighting back. At its board meeting today, the Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority (MVCPA) awarded annual grants to help prevent and reduce statewide motor vehicle crime.

The grants support local law enforcement efforts to prevent Texans from experiencing over $1 billion in losses caused each year from motor vehicle crime.

Grant Recipients:

  • City of Austin: $414,319
  • City of Beaumont: $508,623
  • City of Brownsville: $889,225
  • Burnet County: $192,400
  • City of Corpus Christi: $395,356
  • City of Dallas: $601,250
  • Dallas County: $519,480
  • City of Eagle Pass: $120,250
  • City of El Paso: $894,145
  • Galveston County: $451,354
  • Harris County: $743,052
  • City of Houston: $957,190
  • City of Laredo: $658,970
  • Lubbock County: $389,151
  • City of Mansfield: $288,600
  • Montgomery County: $324,640
  • City of Paris: $102,654
  • City of Pasadena: $73,112
  • Potter County: $347,960
  • City of San Antonio: $769,600
  • Smith County: $320,146
  • Tarrant County: $1,101,971
  • Travis County: $607,154
  • City of Victoria: $148,840
  • Total: $11,819,442

These agencies collaborate regionally and with each other to establish evidence based, strategy driven and community focused solutions networks. They improve coordination, deploy equipment and provide clear messaging to community groups to end motor vehicle crime across Texas.

“With these grants, local communities can respond in a coordinated effort to solve statewide motor vehicle crime,” said Laredo Assistant Chief of Police Mike Rodriguez.

The taskforces recovered more than 11,000 vehicles in fiscal year 2019, made thousands of arrests and distributed materials and messages to their communities to help remind people to lock their cars. Based on state data, there are nearly 200,000 motor vehicle burglaries and more than 67,000 stolen vehicles every year.

The Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority, a division of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, funds local law enforcement taskforces across the state every year. The funds come from a $4 fee that MVCPA collects from motor vehicle insurance companies. A large part of the fee collected also supports emergency rooms and trauma centers throughout Texas.

The Texas Legislature established MVCPA in 1991 to create a statewide effort to reduce auto theft. The Authority is comprised of governor-appointed members from insurers, law enforcement and the public along with a designee from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

For more information about how to protect yourself from motor vehicle crime, visit MVCPA online at www.txdmv.gov/motorists/consumer-protection/auto-theft-prevention.

--

Media Contact:            Customer Contact:                          
Media@TxDMV.gov     AskDMV@TxDMV.gov
(512) 465-1484              1-888-368-4689

--

The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles registers and titles motor vehicles, licenses motor vehicle dealers, credentials motor carriers, issues oversize/overweight permits, investigates complaints against dealers and motor carriers, and awards grants to law enforcement agencies to reduce vehicle burglaries and thefts. Learn more at www.TxDMV.gov.