FORT WORTH, TX — A criminologist conducting an experiment here visited every full-service carwash in the area to see if employees would steal from a vehicle, WBUR.org reported.
The Nov. 14 story stated that Patrick Kinkade would leave a large amount of loose change inside the car every time he visited a wash. He would then count the money to see if any had been stolen.
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It ended up that money was stolen about a third of the time. According to the story, if the theft rate here is anything like the rest of the country, millions of dollars are being stolen from cars each year during carwashes.
Kinkade and other researchers used the experiment to write an academic paper titled “Getting Hosed.” In the paper, they explained that certain factors increased the risk of theft, including the contents of the car.
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Since the research experiment was not meant to be a sting operation, Kinkade did not go back to the washes and confront the thieves.
Read the entire article here.
