MKE community reflects on recent motor vehicle thefts

City to join others in lawsuit against Kia and Hyundai

By Sophia Tiedge sophia.tiedge@marquette.edu

Milwaukee Police Department reported a 34% decrease in car thefts in 2023 compared to 2022, but some Marquette students and Milwaukee residents are still dissatisfied with the security of their vehicles.

Assistant Marquette University Police Department Chief Jeff Kranz said when someone calls MUPD about a stolen car, they can get the word out to not only the city of Milwaukee, but also the rest of the country where they report it in their crime databases. This way, he said other jurisdictions can run the plates quickly and identify if it’s a stolen vehicle.

Carrie Knapp is a Milwaukee resident whose daughter’s Kia was stolen from the Versiti Blood Center parking lot on Marquette’s campus. After the car was stolen, they reported the incident to MUPD.

“Five days later, when the car finally ran out of gas, they found it in the Whole Foods parking lot by St. Mary’s Hospital with the steering wheel column damaged. It makes you mad because you work hard for the things that you do have, and it’s very upsetting to just have that taken from you,” Knapp said.

Knapp said she and her daughter were both “distraught” over the situation, especially since Knapp also had her Kia broken into twice just outside her home in Milwaukee.

“Twice my steering column was stripped and that’s $1,000 every time you have to take it in. It’s very frustrating. They do it because they know they can get away with it, and they know there won’t be a lot of consequences,” Knapp said.

Milwaukee made an announcement March 22 that