Car Alarms Reducing Thefts, Experts Say This story did not appear in its entirety in some editions of Sunday’s Times. The complete story appears today.

The car alarm, that infernal disrupter of sleep, that chirping, whooping, honking blight on the soundtrack of Southern California life, is suddenly grabbing notice for something good.

It might actually be stopping crime.

Experts say an explosion in the use of alarms and other automobile security devices--from the Club to satellite-age tracking systems--is among the chief reasons for a steady decline in car thefts in Los Angeles and nationwide from the epidemic levels of several years ago.

That decrease showed up markedly last year in Los Angeles, where about 5,000 fewer cars were stolen than in 1995. In almost all of the biggest cities in Los Angeles County, car theft decreased faster than the overall crime rate. And a handful of cities, including Norwalk, Long Beach and Pasadena, showed big drops.

“We do believe we see a trend now,” said Mark Stowell, who tracks vehicle theft in 13 Western states for the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

Police and other observers say the decline in car thefts, which peaked nationwide in 1991, probably results from a mix of disparate forces. Many California counties have set up auto theft task forces in the last five years, and authorities have done more to train police officers and residents to spot car thieves at work.

Investigators point out that some of the makes that were the easiest to steal are now near extinction, such as the late-1970s Oldsmobile Cutlass or some early 1980s Toyotas.

Officials say that an aging, more law-abiding population and stiffer prison sentences--reasons cited for reducing the overall crime rate--are also factors in the auto theft decline.

“In reality, it’s not one easy answer,” said Lt. Gary Hallden, who heads the Los Angeles Police Department’s auto theft detail. “It’s the totality of everything.”

Part of that picture is the legions of car owners who have taken matters into their own hands, shelling out hundreds of dollars to protect automobiles that cost more than ever before.

“It’s a big deal because of our romantic attachment to the automobile--’That’s my car, that’s my freedom,’ ” said Jeff Fryrear, acting director of the National Crime Prevention Institute at the University of Louisville. “We put forth a great amount of effort to protect our cars . . . because of the attachment we have.”

North American sales of electronic security devices totaled more than $600 million in 1995--more than five times the volume a decade earlier--and car owners have continued snatching up mechanical locks, such as the Club. Manufacturers have increasingly gotten into the act, building cars that shut off unless started with a special key, for example. Some industry analysts say car buyers are now more concerned about security than safety features such as air bags.

Armando Perez, a systems analyst who lives in Sierra Madre, is part of the security-conscious wave. He recently bought a used 1993 Acura but was unsatisfied with the factory-installed alarm. He installed a $1,500 alarm system so sophisticated he can shut off the car simply by dialing a pager contained in the system.

That’s a good weapon when a thief has sped off, he said.

“I’m going to make it extremely difficult--almost impossible--to take my car,” Perez said.

Auto theft investigators also praise tracking systems, such as LoJack and Teletrac, which help police follow a signal to the stolen car. The newest generation of such devices can bring a stolen car to a halt and announce that police are tracking the vehicle while paging the owner.

Police say the more basic alarms and mechanical devices have helped stymie car theft by discouraging joy-riders and other opportunists. “If thieves have two cars--one with a protection device and one without--they’ll opt for the one without,” said Sgt. Dave Record, a Long Beach auto theft detective.

Others question the effect of alarms and other devices on the overall theft rate, arguing that the gizmos merely send thieves elsewhere. “It doesn’t stop the number of car thefts,” said Los Angeles County sheriff’s Sgt. Jack Boggio, who is in charge of car theft investigations in Norwalk. “It just changes who is the victim.”

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Boggio said Norwalk’s impressive drop in thefts--from 1,272 in 1995 to 986 last year--results in large part from a low-tech but steady police effort to choke theft operations when they appear.

When a rash of car thefts and burglaries arose in the parking garage of a newly opened theater complex last year, sheriff’s investigators set up stakeouts and arrested 12 people breaking into cars in a single night. Most of the suspects were out-of-town teenagers who would go to the movies and “need a ride home,” Boggio said. “They want a free taxicab.”

The more complex cases--mainly professional car thieves who steal cars for their parts or for overseas shipment--also have received the attention of the newly created task forces. The multi-agency efforts were created through a state law that provides funding through a $1 charge on vehicle registrations.

Los Angeles County’s task force, which receives about $6 million a year from the fund, has recovered about $60 million in stolen vehicles since its formation in 1993. Last year, the unit made 514 arrests and recovered 1,260 stolen vehicles.

Though security systems and enforcement methods may have discouraged casual auto thieves, the most difficult local cases are on the upswing, said sheriff’s Capt. John Bryan, who directs the county task force.

He said hardened thieves remain drawn to the most expensive cars, which can be broken down for parts or shipped for resale. “While the numbers of thefts are going down, the dollar value of stolen vehicles is on the rise,” Bryan said.

The recent gains have prompted some to speculate that car theft--once treated as a mere annoyance and later as a serious crime plague--may be succumbing to all the weaponry arrayed against thieves.

“We may be seeing a resolution of this problem,” said Fryrear, of the National Crime Prevention Institute.

But police say total victory is not yet in sight.

As surely as there are ingenious contraptions to thwart theft, there are crafty thieves to beat them. The truly determined can saw through the steering wheel to defeat the Club or outfox the electronic signals that control an alarm.

“A car thief that wants a car can take it,” said the LAPD’s Hallden. “They can just hook it up and tow it away with the alarm going.”