Automobile Theft Costs
Americans Mms Annually
Alfreds L. Madison
Special To The Post
Automobile theft has be
come one of the United
States’ most spiraling
crimes. Its cost is around
$5 billion annually. While
the number of cars stolen
has greatly increased over
the past decade, the re
covery of stolen cars has
decreased to fewer than
two out of ten.
Once automobile theft
was just about entirely li
mited to cities, but in 1979
there was a 12 percent
increase in the suburbs,
with the sharpest increase
Commissioners
Plans New
Format
The Mecklenburg Board
of County Commissioners
has. established a format
for its regular business
meetings that will provide
time for the public to be
, hetir^J, on any subject and
without being put on the
agenda prior to the time of
the in ee ting
v A 15-minute “Public Ap
of each Board meeting, and
the public is invited to
limit-hls or her remarks to
five minutes.
' The new format will be
especially helpful to per
sons who < wish to bring
their concerns to the atten
tion of the Commissioners,
but do ntfjchooee tohe put
on the«aigfcnda prionto the
meeting.
The Commissioners’
agenda will continue to in
clude 4 section for citizens
who wish to appear befoAu
{he foard concerning spe
cific -items. Anyone who
wishes to be put on the
agenda in advance must*
contact Clerk to the Board
Hazel H. Hatley, 374-2472,
no later thaav. Thursday
nOpn, six and a half work
ing days before the regu
larly scheduled meetings.
Tbd Board of County
Commissioner? holds twp
business meetings a
month, on the. first and
third Monday of the month.
The meetings are held in
the Board Room of -the
Education Center and they
begirt-at 9 a.m. They are
televised by WTV1 in their
entirety and may be seen
on Channel 42 the same
evening, beginning at 9
(/•III.
SBA, A&P Sign
Pact To Help
Minority Firms
WASHINGTON, D.C - A
second major company has
signed an.agreement with
the U.S. Small Business
Administration (SBA) to
consider awarding service
and, product supply con
tracts to certain minority
owned small businesses.
Under the agreement an
nounced this week, the
Great Atlantic and Pacific
Tea Company, Inc., •
(A&P), in selecting its sup
pliers will give special con
sideration .to those socially
and economically disad
vantaged small firms now
involved in SBA’s Business
Development Program.
Under that program, com
monly known as 8(a) after
a section of the Small Busi;
ness Act, SBA is author
ized to act as prime con
tractor for federal work
and then subcontract that
work to small companies
owned by persons who are
economically and socially
disadvantaged. In almost
all such cases, the firms
are owned by minorities.
SBA signed a similar
agreement with Western
Rl/rfrir f'nmnflnv In/*
last September.
SBA Administrator A.
Vernon Weaver remarked
that the agreement with
A&P “further expands
potential competitive pri
mary markets to selected
8(a) companies The agree
ment also is evidence that
we have moved from cere
monial support for minor
ity-owned companies to’
real progress in their be
mr___
Deadline for receipt of
copy for classified adver
tising is 5 p m Monday.
Cancellations must be
made before the deadline.
in the South of over 16
percent.
The Senate Permanent
Subcommittee on Investi
gation, along with the FBI
and local and state law en
forcement officials, have
identified increased organ
ized crime involvement in
these trends. They use sys
tematic methods of steal
ing, retagging and selling
popular late model ve
hicles. They also use the
“chop shop’’ method of
dismantling and selling au
tomobile parts. These
shops arrange for the steal
ing of automotive vehicles,
which are taken to secret
warehouses and strippec
by dismantling experts. S<
within hours thieves art
able to provide expensive
parts to dishonest opera
tors.
The Senate committee
discovered that three fac
tors foster the black mark
et for car parts:
The high price placed on
replacement parts by man
ufacturers, the long delay
in obtaining legitimate
replacements, and the high
labor cost provide good
business for these black
marketeers.
Amid this astronomical
car theft, there are an un
determined number of
cases of fraud. -
Owners sometimes de
cide that repair and main
tenance costs are so ex
cessive that it is more
advantageous to dispose of
the carrreport it stolen and
collect the insurance. Often
cars are insured with more
than one company, so the
policyholder disposes of the
car, calls it theft, and
collects from each insurer.
Sometimes wrecked cars
are salvaged and sold,
while the owner uses the
regular title certificate to
insure this no longer exist
ing car, but later reports it
as stolen and collects the
insurance.
In some cases owners
strip their own cars of
valuable parts, hide the
parts and abandon the car
until it is located by the
police as stolen and
stripped of its parts. After
the damage insurance
claims are settled the own
ers replace the previously
hidden parts. Then, of
course, there is the arson
fraud, where an owner
burns his car and fabri
cates a claim for the book
value.
Some insurance com
panies are cooperating
with the public and law
enforcement officials in the
prevention of automobile
theft. These insurance
companies are educating
the people through the dis
tribution of information
leaflets, community groups
and advertisements in
newspapers and magazines
Seminars are conducted to
inform patrol officers of
current information on
laws and court rulings and
methods to determine if a
car has actually been
stolen. These officers are
trained to detect cars that
are likely to be used in
fraudulent car theft.
Insurance companies
have also introduced a pro
gram called “Operation
Pickup.” This program
trains automobile insur
ance employees in warning
signs of whether or not an
automobile has really been
stolen.
When owners engage in
fraudulent practices to col
lect insurance claims, the
cases become more com
plex. However, insurance
companies have developed
profiles of typical fraudu
lent characteristics, which
make it very difficult for
the claimant to collect the
insurance.
Since automobile theft
amounts to such a huge
cost, through loss of
money, cost of prosecution
when caught and inconven
ience, car owners should
avail themselves of all pre
ventive information.
umoia racte Ut Business Games
In Luanna C. Blagrove's
book, “Untold Facts About
The Small Business Game:
How to Be Competent in
Business," she says miss
ing links cart create a small
business dilemma.
According to the author,
the number one problem
with small business is that
most theory and academic
training accents the cor
poration, whereas, the pro
prietor and partnership,
•type business, which is the
categories small business
es fall into, have been
forgotten.
many Dusiness people
and their advisors are un
aware that operating a
business is like playing a
game, she said. There are
known opponents who are
other bosses, business
groups and governments;
set rules, legal moral and
social, and a definite stra
tegy plan.
Business people must un
derstand the functions,
roles and duties that in
volve a particular type of
business, be it a proprietor,
partnership or corporation,
she emphasized.
C.D. Rippy, left, receives gift from Dr. Wilbert Greenfield looks on
Claude Bowman of S&H Company while
rrom sacn company
JCSU Receives $2^00 Grant
Johnson C. Smith Uni
versity was recently
awarded a $2,500 grant
from Sperry and Hutchin
Vson (S&Hi Company to
develop a lecture series on
“Black on Black Crime."
The check was presented
to University President
Wilbert Greenfield by
Claude Bowman, area
manager for S&H Promo
tional Services. '*
Lectures durihg the
series will be held between
January apd May, 1981.
“Blacks committing
crimes against Blacks is a
very serious problem in
this country today,” said C.
D. Rippy, director of the
lecture series and chair
persorfof the social science
division at Johnson C.
Smith.
"We are becoming more
aware of the deteriorating’
effect black on black crime
is having on the commun
ity, but we should begin to
implement specific strate
gies to n$nimize these
crimes," h£added.
Last year, EBONY ma
gazine brought the problem
of black crime to the at
tention of the nation by
publishing an article that
gave statistics on how
black on black crime has
skyrocketed in soaring
numbers.
These were some,.of the
statistics .included within
that article:
"More blacks were killed
by other blacks in the year
1977 than died in the entire
nine years of the Vietnam
War."
“According to the
Federal Bureau of Inves
tigation, there were 1,639
murder victims in 1977 be
tween the ages of 15 and 19,
and 702 of these were
black.”
"In 1976, 131 of 1,000
black households were bur
glarized as compared with
84 of every 1,000 white
households.
“In a report by econo
mist Arthur Brimmer,
crime cost the black, com
munity alone $13.2 billion in
1974.”
Johnson C. Smith'"Uni
versity was one of 50 col
leges and universities to
win an S&H Lectureship
grant this year. •
There were over 300 en
tries. Since the program
started in 1960, 718 grants
have been made to more
than 540 schools, with total
awards exceeding $1,325,
000.
Bowman said that the
program was designed to
bring prominent and
thoughtful speakers to
campuses and to help
strengthen college and
community ties by opening
the lectures to the public.
The S&H Company is a
diversified corporation en
gated in three principal
businesses: promotional *
services (which include
S&H Green Stamps); resi
dential and condmercial
furnishings- and insurance
services.
Holidays Depression
Holidays are often a time
of depression, loneliness
and feeling hurried. People
sometimes expect too
much of themselves and
others.
Mecklenburg Mental
Health Services invites you
to attend a workshop that
will focus on reassessing
values, finding ways to live
within our traditions and
fee^^rMte^Mns^i^^^
Workshops will be helt
Thursday, December ll
from 9:30-U:30a.m.; Tues
day, December 16, from 7-i
p.m.; Wednesday, Decern
ber 17, from9:30-11:30 a.m
Reservations are re
quired. The $2 workshop
fee is playable in advance.
For reservations call
375-3575, ext. 317, between f
a.m -12 noon or 1-5 p.m.
Mercy Hospital Receives
Duke Endowment Grant
A 1750,000 grant to Mercy
Hospital to help pay for
new construction has been
approved by the trustees of
the Duk$ Endowment.
j The grant was • an
nounced today by Sister
Mary Jerome Spradley,
R.S.M., president of Mercy
Hospital, Inc. .
The initial allotment of
$250,000 was given to the
hospital November 28. The
other two allotments of
$250,000 each wiU be made
in 1981 and 1982; subject to
the aVailability of funds in
future Vears.
Sister Mary Jerome said
the grant will be used to
help pay for Mercy's $6.6
million construction pro- •
ject that began in Sep
tember, 1980:.-The project
includes a 505-space park
ing deck, a new energftnoy
room, inpatiedt and out
patient surgery suites, a
recovery room, an- audit
orium and a cental stores
area. Other departments
will be expanded or reno
vated.
Since 1925, the Duke En
dowment has given $1,592,
250 including last month’s
$250k000) to Mercy "Hospital
for capital improvements.
The Duke Endowment has
given-the hospital another
$404,398 for operating ex
penses over the yeai>s.
Mercy Hospital, which
will celebrate its 75th an
niversary in* February,
1981, is a general, acute
care hospital that draws
patients from more than 50
counties in North and South
Carolina. ' _
I ^ 1 I
A subscription
to
The Charlotte Post
will keep you _
informed
of community
news
Call 376-0496
*— - -
* MARTIN & HEMPHILL \|
Attorneys at Law F
•Personal Injury
•Divorces ‘Wills & Estates
•Workmen's Compensation •Social Security
•Contracts •Adoption •Name Change
•Custody ‘Deeds •Separation Agreements
Attorneys
James A. Martin Paul E. Hemphill
Suite 202 Executive Bldg.
623 East Trade St.
Charlotte. N.C. 28202
333-0343 333-5145
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Thin King (9 Gram*) $76.50 $54.00 I
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W hite Or Yellow Gold 18k | Ik I
Giant Size ( 15 <#rani*) $165.00 8127.50 B
Extra l.arge ( 12 Gram*) 8132.ItO 8102.18)1
Large Ring (8 Gram*) 88838) 868.00 B
Medium Ring (6 Grain*) 86638) 85138) B
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^ThiiMlmg^l Gram*) BH38) $31.00 B
BUYING 9:30-5:30 DAILY J
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Alto location* in Concord and Mt, Pleotonf. Coll 436-9766 for information. H
LOCAL)-Y OWNED, LICENSED AND OPERATED ,M
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Distributor Of
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BLFNDED SCOTCH WHISKY • 86 8 PROOF • e 1980 SCHENCEY IMPORTS CO NY. NY
-/ - '•