Administration sends Anti-Carjacking Bill to Congress
The bill proposes creating a public registry of all stolen vehicles and increasing sanctions for purchasing stolen vehicles or items taken during carjackings.
This morning, President of Chile Sebastián Piñera signed a bill designed to fight carjacking more effectively. Carjacking is an attempt to steal a vehicle from an individual using a high degree of violence.
“As President, I want to promise all Chileans that during my administration crime will retreat and our families’ peace, security and tranquility will progress,” the President said at the ceremony held in the Montt Varas Room of the La Moneda Presidential Palace. Piñera was accompanied by Minister of the Interior and Public Safety Andrés Chadwick, mayors from the Metropolitan Region and legislators from various parties.
The Carabineros (uniformed police) Criminal Analysis Department (CAD) keeps its own carjacking records and produces statistics for the Metropolitan Region, which only addresses a percentage of all carjackings. According to CAD data, there were 307 carjackings in the Metropolitan Region between January and April 2018.
A 28.6% increase in the crime of receiving stolen goods was reported between 2016 and 2017 as well as a 4.8% increase in the crime of receiving stolen vehicles.
Public safety is one of the five major agreements that the administration has promoted. The working group on the issue, formed on April 6, is due to submit proposals in the coming weeks.
“Today, we are committed to the fight against crime and drug trafficking. This is not just the government’s fight; it belongs to society as a whole. We need society, police, prosecutors, judges, prison wardens and the government to come together in this difficult battle against crime and drug trafficking,” the President said.
This bill comes in addition to the administration’s other public safety initiatives, which include modernizing operations and administration of the Carabineros, a new Tactical Police Operation System, and an important number of national prevention operations.
Measures included in the bill:
1.- Creating a public registry of stolen motor vehicles. The registry will be housed on a website that can be used by members of the public.
2.-Increasing the sentence for receiving a stolen vehicle. (“Buying a stolen car is the same as stealing a car.”) With a public record of stolen vehicles, any individual who receives a stolen vehicle will have access to its history and will not be able to deny knowledge of its illegal origins. Proposed sentence: minimum term for long-term imprisonment (5 years and one day to 10 years) and a fine of 10 to 20 UTM.
3.- Other Sanctions:
- Punishing car theft that involves distracting or surprising the victim as robbery. Proposed sentence: maximum term for short-term imprisonment (3 years and one day to 5 years).
- Punishing theft that involves breaking vehicle windows while someone is inside the vehicle as armed robbery. (Same sentence as carjacking, which is between 5 to 20 years)
-Punishing breaking glass to steal items from a vehicle as robbery with forced entry. Proposed sentence: medium to maximum term for short-term imprisonment (541 days to 5 years).