Stolen Cars is an innovative ethnography of urban inequalities and violence in São Paulo, Brazil. Organized around the journeys of five stolen cars, each chapter discusses a specific theme, such as the distinctions between violent robbery and the more commercial non-violent theft or the role of national borders interconnecting illegal and legal economies Provides an original theoretical framework for a rarely studied urban and transnational supply chain Draws from empirical data and a combination of different methodologies to demonstrate mechanisms of urban inequalities and violence reproduction Highlights how everyday life is entangled with structural urban transformations Uses an ethnographic narrative to show how urban development produce various forms of illegality and violent crime

The technology-thwarting car thief has become as advanced as the cars themselves. As early as 1910 Americans recognized that cars were easy to steal and, once stolen, hard to find, especially since cars looked much alike. Model styles and colors eventually changed, but so did the means of making a stolen car disappear. Though changing license plates and serial numbers remain basic procedure, thieves have created highly sophisticated networks to disassemble stolen vehicles, distribute the parts, and/or ship the altered cars out of the country. Stealing cars has become as technologically advanced as the cars themselves. John A. Heitmann and Rebecca H. Morales’s study of automobile theft and culture examines a wide range of related topics that includes motives and methods, technological deterrents, place and space, institutional responses, international borders, and cultural reflections. Only recently have scholars begun to move their focus away from the creators and manufacturers of the automobile to its users. Stealing Cars illustrates the power of this approach, as it aims at developing a better understanding of the place of the automobile in the broad texture of American life. There are many who are fascinated by aspects of automobile history, but many more readers enjoy the topic of crime—motives, methods, escaping capture, and of course solving the crime and bringing criminals to justice. Stealing Cars brings together expertise from the history of technology and cultural history as well as city planning and transborder studies to produce a compelling and detailed work that raises questions concerning American priorities and values. Drawing on sources that include interviews, government documents, patents, sociological and psychological studies, magazines, monographs, scholarly periodicals, film, fiction, and digital gaming, Heitmann and Morales tell a story that highlights both human creativity and some of the paradoxes of American life.

The technology-thwarting car thief has become as advanced as the cars themselves. As early as 1910 Americans recognized that cars were easy to steal and, once stolen, hard to find, especially since cars looked much alike. Model styles and colors eventually changed, but so did the means of making a stolen car disappear. Though changing license plates and serial numbers remain basic procedure, thieves have created highly sophisticated networks to disassemble stolen vehicles, distribute the parts, and/or ship the altered cars out of the country. Stealing cars has become as technologically advanced as the cars themselves. John A. Heitmann and Rebecca H. Morales’s study of automobile theft and culture examines a wide range of related topics that includes motives and methods, technological deterrents, place and space, institutional responses, international borders, and cultural reflections. Only recently have scholars begun to move their focus away from the creators and manufacturers of the automobile to its users. Stealing Cars illustrates the power of this approach, as it aims at developing a better understanding of the place of the automobile in the broad texture of American life. There are many who are fascinated by aspects of automobile history, but many more readers enjoy the topic of crime—motives, methods, escaping capture, and of course solving the crime and bringing criminals to justice. Stealing Cars brings together expertise from the history of technology and cultural history as well as city planning and transborder studies to produce a compelling and detailed work that raises questions concerning American priorities and values. Drawing on sources that include interviews, government documents, patents, sociological and psychological studies, magazines, monographs, scholarly periodicals, film, fiction, and digital gaming, Heitmann and Morales tell a story that highlights both human creativity and some of the paradoxes of American life.

Forensic Investigation of Stolen-Recovered and Other Crime-Related Vehicles provides unique and detailed insights into the investigations of one of the most common crime scenes in the world. In addition to a thorough treatment of auto theft, the book covers vehicles involved in other forms of crime—dealing extensively with the various procedures and dynamics of evidence as it might be left in any crime scene. An impressive collection of expert contributors covers a wide variety of subjects, including chapters on vehicle identification, examination of burned vehicles, vehicles recovered from under water, vehicles involved in terrorism, vehicle tracking, alarms, anti-theft systems, steering columns, and ignition locks. The book also covers such topics as victim and witness interviews, public and private auto theft investigations, detection of trace evidence and chemical traces, vehicle search techniques, analysis of automotive fluids, vehicle registration, document examination, and vehicle crime mapping. It is the ultimate reference guide for any auto theft investigator, crime scene technician, criminalist, police investigator, criminologist, or insurance adjuster. - Extensively researched and exceptionally well-written by internationally-recognized experts in auto theft investigation and forensic science - All the principles explained in the text are well-illustrated and demonstrated with more than 450 black and white and about 100 full-color illustrations, many directly from real cases - Serves as both a valuable reference guide to the professional and an effective teaching tool for the forensic science student

Danielle is drawn to Reid, the quintessential "bad boy." Even though she should learn from her mother's poor taste in men, she can't seem to shake her strong feelings for him. As she gets caught up in Reid's lifestyle, Danielle turns a blind eye to his lies, and is soon in way over her head. But her BFF Ashley is determined not to let Danielle become the road kill on Reid's joy ride through life. Once she forces Dani to see through Reid's deception, they take off on a revenge-injected road trip that starts with a stolen car and ends with some harsh truths. Patrick Jones takes readers for a ride in this dynamic story about good friends, bad boys, and fast cars.

Fifteen-year-old, suburban high school student Kelleigh, who has her learner's permit, recounts how she began stealing cars one summer, for reasons that seem unclear even to her.