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I don't work for HPD and never have, but here is a link to a report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to Congress from 1991. It says overall, the rate is about 80%, with cars reaching higher (around 88%), light trucks a little lower, and motorcycles worst of all (around 60%).

When I worked for SAPD, I think this would be about our reported rates also, but it is a little bit of a lie. A recovered vehicle is counted whenever any vehicle or part with the VIN is recovered, no matter what the overall condition of the vehicle. So, if a burned out hulk was found, that counted as a recovery. Just a motor counted, just a frame counted, even the windshield counted as a vehicle IF it had been etched with the VIN.

I think, but have no evidence to prove this, that the recovery rate I would call recovered (that is a repairable car that the insurance company would not consider totaled) would probably be back down around 30%. I could be way off on this, so take it with a grain of salt. A lot of cars I would not count as recovered were found but damaged in such a way as to be not repairable at a reasonable cost.

The other part I remember finding interesting was the time between theft reported and recovery drastically affects the odds. We would always find a few before the owner knew they had been stolen, then most within 24 hours and after 72 hours it dropped way down. We found a few much later (longest one I found was a two year old theft where he had done a smart job of stealing one that matched the car he owned - I found it because I was impounding it for something else and happened to check the VIN on the registration against the window sticker by chance).

On a humorous (well to me, I hope she will laugh later too) note, my daughter called me crying on Sunday that her car had been stolen. She was out with her daughter looking for a few Christmas presents at a mall in Houston (don't know which one). She came out and was standing where she had parked the car and all she found was broken glass. I packed up and told her I was on the way but to call her boyfriend to get her home (I live three hours from her). Before I got ten minutes on the road, she called back that the police had found her car. It was parked four rows over from where she had been standing. She swore she went in the one door and came out the same way. I calmed her down and told her that happens all the time and not to worry about it. Then I did tell her that HPD would count it as a recovered stolen car for their monthly stats though. Easiest recovery that officer ever did.

rotor wrote: ↑Mon Dec 24, 2018 2:52 pmHow many understand the difference between theft at night (most don't know what legal night is) and "recoverable" property? Even LTC holders don't fully understand these laws.

I think you are right. I sincerely doubt most people know what is meant by night, legally. And those who do, probably don't understand what is the legal time for sunset (though they may know where to look up the time for their area).

My understanding of legal night, for those who are curious, is 30 minutes after sunset until 30 minutes before sunrise. Sunset is defined as when the bottom edge of the sun touches the horizon and sun rise is defined as when the bottom edge clears the horizon. Now if I can find the citations for that, I will edit this to be sure.

EDIT: A quick search found that the definition of daytime and nighttime are in Transportation Code section 541.401. I can't find the definition of sunrise or sunset in the quick search.

LDP wrote: ↑Sun Dec 23, 2018 6:34 pm Also, I rememeber that when I originally took my CHL class, the instructor mentioned some law that allows one to use deadly force to stop a thief from stealing property but only unrecoverable/untraceable property. If the stolen item could be traced back to you if found by the police, you may not use deadly force to stop the theft. He literally said "I can't shoot a thief for stealing my truck but I can shoot him for taking my hubcaps". I cannot quote the exact law, sorry. Hopefully someone has a handy link.

The law is Penal Code Section 9.42 and it does not say quite that, though I can see the interpretation of that. Here is exactly what it says:
[quote:]Sec. 9.42. DEADLY FORCE TO PROTECT PROPERTY. A person is justified in using deadly force against another to protect land or tangible, movable property:
(1) if he would be justified in using force against the other under Section 9.41; and
(2) when and to the degree he reasonably believes the deadly force is immediately necessary:
(A) to prevent the other's imminent commission of arson, burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, theft during the nighttime, or criminal mischief during the nighttime; or
(B) to prevent the other who is fleeing immediately after committing burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, or theft during the nighttime from escaping with the property; and
(3) he reasonably believes that:
(A) the land or property cannot be protected or recovered by any other means; or
(B) the use of force other than deadly force to protect or recover the land or property would expose the actor or another to a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury.[/quote]

I am guessing that your instructor was referring to subparagraph (3)(A). I have also heard this clause taken to mean that if you have insurance that will replace the item, then deadly force is not justified. I disagree with both of these interpretations but I am not a lawyer to provide advise. Your instructor may be aware of some case law I am not familiar with. I do strongly agree that you need to know when you can shoot. A big part of this is to also know when YOU will should. That is, think in advance what is justifiable to you for defense. What would it take for you to shoot? Is your car that important to you that you are willing to kill for it? Are your hubcaps? Then you need to get with a good attorney and find out if your feelings are within the law in Texas.

I agree with the other posters that going to one of Charles' seminars would be very helpful in getting factual information about the law. You can also read the Penal Code (and all state laws) on the official state web site at https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/.

Always remember that if you are out of state traveling, their laws may be very different.