ST. CLOUD -- The number of vehicles stolen in St. Cloud has gone up over the past two years.

Last year there was 277 vehicles stolen and the year before the number was 279, according to the police department reports. Prior to that, the number hovered just under 200 each year.

Stolen Vehicles in St. Cloud by year:
2005 - 200
2006 - 190
2007 - 177
2008 - 140
2009 - 133
2010 - 122
2011 - 129
2013 - 234
2014 - 210
2015 - 162
2016 - 181
2017 - 202
2018 - 171
2019 - 197
2020 - 279
2021 - 277

Police Chief Blair Anderson says it's difficult to say why there has been an increase in this type of crime.

Because people were raised poorly.  That's the best I've got. You don't take somebody else's property whether it's a vehicle or anything else unless you have no regard for that person.

In the State Legislature this year there has been a lot of talk about stiffer penalties for people who are caught carjacking or stealing someone's vehicle. Anderson says he supports that effort.

I certainly am all for it, because to me it just doesn't make sense that you would force somebody out of their vehicle so that you can take it and do what, commit more crimes with it?

In July of last year, the St. Cloud Police Department got a two-year grant to hire an investigator specifically for stolen vehicles.

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