Cook County Sheriff calls for national carjacking hotline

COOK COUNTY, Ill. - Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart called on Congress Tuesday to create a national carjacking hotline.

Dart said it would create a quicker way for police and victims to find their hijacked vehicles.

Recently, Illinois passed a similar hotline that helps provide tracking information.

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Cook County had 1,838 carjackings in 2022 that was actually up 24 percent from 2020.

"The only way we are going to start really driving these numbers down to the point where they are something that we would find to be acceptable and, though I still believe zero is acceptable, the only way we are going to do that is if we get the car manufacturers to agree to do what I've said in the beginning, is the minimum. Do the minimum. The minimum is when you sell a car to somebody and then they have a gun put to their head and their car taken, that that automotive manufacturer agrees to track it and give it to us," Dart said.

Officials said that the location where the news conference was held, 71st Street and Vincennes Avenue, is where more than 200 cars that had been carjacked were recovered.