Car thefts have skyrocketed at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport over past year.
Law enforcement officials say they’re taking extra steps to secure the tens of thousands of parking spots at the travel hub over the holidays, but are warning residents to take extra precautions if they plan to leave their cars there.
More than 310 cars have been stolen from airport parking decks so far this year, which is more than triple the number of thefts at Hartsfield-Jackson in 2023, according to Atlanta Police Department data.
Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said Monday that it’s an alarming trend that’s being seen across the nation.
“There’s over 40,000 parking spaces at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport,” he told council members on the public safety committee. “Some citizens may travel and it may be days or even weeks before they know they’ve been a victim of the theft.”
“When we look from California to Connecticut, we see an increase in almost every major American airport of thefts,” he added.
The airport’s four main parking decks are being targeted the most while car thefts at curbs as travelers are dropped off and picked up have decreased. The police department recommends travelers parking in the decks use a steering wheel lock for extra safety.
Car thieves are able to use programs to simulate key fobs to open car doors, Schierbaum said, leaving no trace of broken glass from a smashed window to alert security patrolling the parking decks that there’s been a break in.
The problem is so extensive, that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is involved tracking down the individuals responsible.
“It’s also very apparent that these thefts tend to be highly-organized and even done on a national scale,” the police chief said. “We’re working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation here at the Atlanta field office on a number of high-level investigations.”
Additional officers are being deployed to the airport in an effort to curb thefts — that includes undercover units. The police department is also working with airport leadership to install new “anti-tailgating” technology to make it harder for car jackers to follow stolen cars out of garages.
The number of travelers flying in and out of Atlanta’s airport over the Thanksgiving holiday is expected to break records.
The Transportation Security Administration is preparing for its busiest Thanksgiving travel period on record. That means nearly 1 million travelers are expected to go through security screening at Hartsfield-Jackson over that period.
Nationally, traffic through TSA checkpoints is expected to be up about 6% from last year’s Thanksgiving period.
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