Car thefts in the Twin Cities moved in different directions for the first couple of months of the year, with an increase in Minneapolis and a continued slowdown in St. Paul.

Both cities were experiencing a decrease in car thefts by the end of 2025. However, this year, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara expressed concern about a renewed spike, which he says began when an influx of federal immigration agents arrived in the city.

“You might see out there that just crime went down during this thing. That’s not true. Some crime did, other crime went up,” O’Hara told Minneapolis City Council members last week.

After a 37% decrease over the last two years, O’Hara informed council members that the city is now seeing a “significant increase in auto thefts and some damage to property.” City data indicated nearly 1,200 thefts in 2026 compared to 935 at the same time last year.

“The problem is, if you pull investigators and you pull cops out of the neighborhoods, because you have to do all this order policing, we have a lot of work we have to get back to,” said O’Hara.

Across the river in St. Paul, Ramsey County Undersheriff Mike Martin credited the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office Carjacking & Auto Theft (CAT) team and its work with St. Paul and other local police for a 61% decrease in auto theft over three years.

“The kids know, don’t steal a car in Ramsey County,” said Undersheriff Martin. He added that 80 to 85% of auto thefts in Ramsey County occur in St. Paul, necessitating close collaboration with the city.

The sheriff’s office posted on Facebook this week, “Focused deterrence pays off… And in the first two months of 2026, there were 195 stolen cars in St. Paul compared to 1,054 in Minneapolis.”

“I think the real story is Minneapolis staffing is way down… and they’re very limited on the extra stuff they can do, or the stuff beyond responding to 911, and investigating things that have already happened. So I think that’s a huge issue,” said Martin.

While St. Paul was affected by Operation Metro Surge, Martin noted that fewer local law enforcement resources were needed in response compared to Minneapolis. “And the specialized units are your extra bodies. But it sounds like Minneapolis is refocusing a lot of their efforts, so I’m excited about that, where we’ve started really engaging with them again… and I think the more we can work together, the better off we all are,” said Martin.

The Minneapolis Police Department did not grant an interview request.

In response to questions, a spokesperson said in part:

“Recently, Minneapolis saw 84 auto thefts in a one-week period, the lowest weekly total since Week 2 of this year. That decline could be related to arrests made in several recent theft sprees.

“While the recent spike earlier in the year reversed the trend somewhat, the rolling 12-month data still shows that auto thefts remain 38% below their mid-2023 peak.”

They also noted that Minneapolis historically has higher violent crime levels and lower staffing levels than St. Paul and that the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office has different “department policy, including pursuit policy,” as well as “charging practices by the respective county attorneys,” something Martin mentioned as well.

More on the CAT Team with Undersheriff Martin:

“They’re a combination of investigators who work the street, looking for stolen cars, tracking auto theft suspects, and trying to recover those stolen cars. But, they also do some prevention and intervention work, working with young people who’ve been in stolen cars but still can be changed. They can be taken to the right path with a little help,” Martin shared.

How does this team and its practices differ from what you guys have done in the past and from traditional policing, say, over in Minneapolis?

“Traditionally, police get a report of an auto theft. They take the report so that the person can turn it into their insurance. They’ll look for the car in the course of their regular duties, but they’re not proactively going out looking for the car. They’re not tracking, ‘Hey, we know this guy steals cars in this neighborhood, and they’re often recovered over here, so we go over here looking for them… because most of the auto thefts are done by prolific offenders. They’re people who steal, you know, 10 cars a week, and so those are the ones we really want to intervene with,’” Martin replied.

“So they’re not doing kind of the proactive stuff. Sometimes that’s a resource issue.”

See additional response to questions by MPD below:

Does Chief O’Hara believe the primary reason auto thefts have increased year over year is because officers were responding to ICE-related calls instead of focusing on neighborhood patrols?

“Yes, response to Operation Metro Surge was a contributing factor. Officers and investigators were consistently pulled from their normal assigned duties.”     

Are there other reasons? If so, what are they?

“Yes. In addition to the ongoing trend involving Kia and Hyundai vehicles, as well as thefts involving vehicles left running or left with keys inside, Minneapolis is also seeing signs of a broader nationwide trend involving the use of key-programming technology to steal vehicles…”

Does MPD specifically have investigators assigned to auto theft? And have they all been tied up with ICE response this year?

“MPD does not have investigators assigned exclusively to auto theft. These cases are investigated by property crimes investigators within each precinct. In addition, fewer officers are assigned to property crime investigations compared to 2020, while the number of cases requiring investigation has increased.”

Does MPD, like Ramsey County’s CAT team working with SPPD, have a dedicated auto theft team?

“No. MPD does not have a dedicated auto theft unit. MPD does have one officer who manages the bait vehicle program.”

As of March, are officers back to their regular details?

“Yes. Officers have essentially returned to their normal assignments.”

Are there specific strategies underway to reverse the increase in auto thefts seen during the first part of this year?

“Yes. Current strategies include:

• MPD has implemented a pilot program that employs the targeted use of forensic scientists to process stolen vehicles for evidence.
• Crime data indicates that a relatively small group of individuals is responsible for a significant share of auto thefts in the city. As a result, identifying and arresting these suspects often has a direct impact on reducing the number of auto thefts.
• Continued collaboration between precinct-based property crimes investigators and the Juvenile Investigations Unit to identify suspects.”

Does the Chief expect these thefts to continue trending upward, or does he expect the city to resume the downward trend seen in 2025 as Operation Metro Surge winds down?

“There are indicators that the trend could continue upward, particularly because signs of key-programming technology are now appearing in Minneapolis. At the same time, recent arrests appear to have coincided with a downward trend over the last week.”