Tommy G
1 HN recommender · recommended in 6 months, 2022–2023
15:26 · 8.8M views · May 31, 2022
A Milwaukee vlogger follows teenagers known as the Kia Boys who steal Kia and Hyundai cars after a security flaw went viral on social media. The film includes interviews with participants.
It is cited as a firsthand look at the Kia and Hyundai theft wave, usually in threads about car security and juvenile crime.
8 comments from Hacker News
The "Kia Boys" in Milwaukee stole almost 10,000 cars last year, mostly Kia and Hyundai models lacking immobilizers. That's 1 car theft per 58 city residents, in a single year. This gonzo documentary on the phenomenon's worth watching: this video
I'm used to snide refusals to have this discussion. In the interest of salvaging some bit of useful discourse, I'll reply to your points in order: - Not to any great extent. Crime rates, tracked independently by murder rates (it's hide to hard bodies) and the National Crime Victimization Survey, broadly match arrest and incarceration rates by race. There is a slight bias towards longer sentences for black criminals, but this shrinks to a ~10% longer sentence duration for violent crimes as you include prior convictions and the severity of the crime. Not surprising given that wealthier defendants, as non-black criminals tend more often to be, can afford better lawyers. The studies I recall were also done before the current wave of "reform" prosecutors like Chesa or Kim Foxx. Here is one think-tank's analysis: [LINK] - Do you hold this position about genes that cause Huntington's disease, breast cancer, or Alzheimers? Do you think the carriers of MAOA-2R want to experience uncontrolled violent aggression? Do you think we should at least offer them a choice? Do you think parents who can afford it will waver when given the choice to offer impulsiveness- and intelligence-enhancing gene therapies to their children? Do you think it fair for those options to be available only to the wealthy? - It's come up a lot recently and I live in a city where the issue is pressing. Maybe you've heard of the Kia Boys: this video - The graphs on the Twitter links cite sources which you clearly refused
From what I know all of this originated in Milwaukee with the original "Kia Boyz"[0]. It's been going on there for years - to the point where I've seen wedding invitations that explicitly state not to bring a Kia/Hyundai to Milwaukee. Additionally, car rental companies will not rent Kia/Hyundai anywhere near Milwaukee. As is the case with most car thefts they are an absolute menace to the streets. "Drive it like it's stolen" is a very real thing[1][2]. Warning - discussion on this topic gets especially racist very quickly so as usual ignore the comments. Seriously, don't even look. [0] - this video [1] - [LINK] [2] - [LINK]
There is actually a very real concept that known penalties deters crime. If you stop any significant punishment, criminals are aware, emboldened, and crime increases. Milwaukee is recently reeling in thousands of reckless car thefts, and this is what the perps say themselves: "I know people who have got 200 car thefts, 300 car thefts." Interviewer: "Have you thought about how you would do that time?" "Shit, you only get 3 weeks. It's a misdemeanor!" Interviewer: "You only do 3 weeks for stealing a car?" "Hell ya, it's a misdemeanor." this video
Milwaukee vlogger's experience hanging out with car-stealing "Kia Boys:" this video Over 10,000 cars were stolen in Milwaukee in 2021. That's one stolen auto for every 60 Milwaukee residents, young and old. South Korea's full of vulnerable Kia and Hyundai vehicles, yet doesn't have this problem of teenage serial car thieves. American social dysfunction is a big part of the equation that results in the numbers above.