A woman pulled into the Kroger parking lot on Kirby Whitten Road near Wolfchase on a Tuesday afternoon. Broad daylight. Busy lot. She was reaching for her purse when someone opened her driver’s side door and told her to get out. She did. Her car was gone before she finished calling 911.
Stories like this play out across Memphis with nauseating regularity. The Memphis Police Department reported more than 9,000 motor vehicle thefts in 2021. Through the first quarter of 2022, the numbers are running ahead of that pace. Carjackings, where the vehicle is taken by force or threat while the owner is present, numbered 445 in 2021. The trend line for 2022 isn’t improving.
This isn’t a new problem, but it’s reaching a scale that demands a direct response from every business owner and property manager in Shelby County.
The Kia and Hyundai Factor
A specific vulnerability has turned certain vehicles into easy targets. Kia and Hyundai models manufactured between 2011 and 2021 largely shipped without engine immobilizer technology, a basic anti-theft feature that prevents the engine from starting without the correct key. Most other manufacturers adopted immobilizers years ago.
A trend that started in Milwaukee, where a group of teenagers nicknamed the “Kia Boyz” posted videos showing how to steal these cars using a USB cable and a screwdriver, has spread through TikTok and other social media to cities across the country. Memphis is no exception.
According to Memphis Police Department data, roughly 34% of cars stolen in Memphis in 2022 are Hyundai and Kia models. The thefts take less than a minute. The videos teaching the technique have millions of views. And the people stealing these cars skew young. MPD reports that increasingly, the suspects arrested in connection with Kia and Hyundai thefts are teenagers, some as young as 14.
Stolen vehicles aren’t just a property crime. They’re used to commit other offenses. Carjackings, armed robberies, drive-by shootings. A car stolen in Hickory Hill on Monday might be used in a robbery in Whitehaven on Wednesday and abandoned in a ditch in Frayser by Friday.
Federal prosecutors have taken notice. A case in the Western District of Tennessee involves three Memphis men charged with a carjacking and armed robbery spree. According to court filings, Jermiah Jones, Kevontae Harper, and James Payne participated in multiple carjackings and a series of armed robberies at Memphis businesses during spring 2022. Cases like these illustrate how car theft and violent crime feed into each other.
Where It’s Happening
Auto theft and carjacking activity clusters in specific parts of Memphis, though no area is completely immune.
Hickory Hill. The area around Winchester Road and Hickory Hill Road has consistently ranked among the highest for auto theft. The density of apartment complexes, many with open parking lots and limited lighting, makes the area a target-rich environment for thieves.
Parkway Village. The neighborhoods around Park Avenue and Getwell Road see regular theft activity. Strip mall parking lots along American Way are frequent targets, particularly after dark.
Whitehaven. The commercial corridor along Elvis Presley Boulevard and the residential streets feeding into it report steady auto theft numbers. The proximity to I-55 gives thieves easy escape routes.
Wolfchase area. The shopping centers around Germantown Parkway and Stage Road see significant vehicle crime. High foot traffic and large parking lots create opportunities. Shoppers distracted by bags and phones make easy marks for opportunistic carjackers.
What Businesses Need to Do
If you manage a commercial property, office building, retail center, or apartment complex in Memphis, vehicle theft on your premises is a liability and a reputation issue. Here’s what actually works.
Fix the Lighting First
This is the cheapest, most effective intervention available. A well-lit parking lot doesn’t prevent all crime, but it removes the cover that most criminals prefer.
Walk your parking lot at 10 p.m. on a weeknight. Stand in every corner, every row. Can you read a license plate from 50 feet away? If the answer is no, your lighting isn’t adequate.
LED retrofit kits for existing pole fixtures run $200 to $400 per fixture. For a 100-space parking lot with eight light poles, a full LED upgrade might cost $2,000 to $3,500 installed. Compare that to the insurance claim, the police report, the employee who quits because she doesn’t feel safe walking to her car, and the Yelp review about the parking lot where someone got carjacked.
Pay attention to transition areas. The spot where the building’s shadow falls after sunset, the back corner near the dumpster enclosure, the area behind the loading dock. Criminals don’t operate in the brightest spot. They work the edges.
Camera Coverage With Actual Monitoring
Cameras only deter crime when criminals believe someone is watching. A camera dome covered in cobwebs with a blinking red light isn’t a security system. It’s decoration.
Modern IP camera systems have dropped in price dramatically. A commercial-grade camera capable of capturing usable footage at night costs $150 to $300 per unit. A 16-camera system with a network video recorder, sufficient storage for 30 days of footage, and remote viewing capability runs $3,000 to $6,000 installed.
Position cameras to cover every entry and exit point, the perimeter of the parking lot, and any isolated areas. Angle them to capture faces and license plates, not just the tops of heads. Many systems now include basic analytics that can alert you when a person enters a defined zone after hours or when a vehicle sits in one spot for an unusual amount of time.
The Memphis Police Department’s Real Time Crime Center can tie into your camera feeds if you register with the program. That means your cameras don’t just record evidence after a crime. They can potentially help MPD respond while a crime is in progress.
Security Patrols That Actually Patrol
A guard sitting in a parked car staring at a phone isn’t a patrol. It’s a warm body collecting a paycheck.
Effective patrol means movement. A security vehicle that circles the lot every 20 to 30 minutes, with random variations in timing and route, creates genuine unpredictability for anyone casing the area. Foot patrols during peak hours, particularly at shift changes and closing time, add visible presence where it matters most.
If you contract with a security company, ask about GPS tracking on patrol vehicles. Reputable firms track their officers’ movements in real time. You should be able to pull a report showing exactly when the patrol car was on your property, how long it stayed, and what route it took. If your security provider can’t produce that data, find one that can.
For apartment complexes in areas like Hickory Hill and Parkway Village, a dedicated patrol presence between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. has the most impact. That’s when most vehicle thefts from apartment lots occur. An officer who walks the parking lot, checks for broken glass, tests gate arms, and approaches unfamiliar people loitering near vehicles creates real deterrence.
Employee Safety Training
Your employees are your most exposed assets. Teach them specific behaviors.
Walking to the car. Keys in hand before leaving the building. Phone in pocket, not in hand. Head up, scanning the lot. If something feels wrong, go back inside.
Sitting in the car. Start the engine and drive. Don’t sit in a parked car scrolling through messages with the doors unlocked. Carjackers look for exactly this.
If confronted. Give up the car. No vehicle is worth a life. Don’t argue, don’t resist, don’t try to memorize the suspect’s face. Get away, find safety, then call 911.
Reporting suspicious activity. A car circling the lot slowly. Someone sitting in a parked vehicle watching foot traffic. A person trying door handles. Teach employees to report these observations to management or security immediately, not after the fact.
Hold a 15-minute safety briefing quarterly. Print a one-page tip sheet and post it in the break room. Make it part of new employee orientation. These aren’t complicated steps, but they only work if people actually know them.
Gate and Access Control
For properties with controlled access, the barriers only work when they work. A gate arm that stays raised because the motor burned out three weeks ago isn’t access control.
Maintain your gates. Replace broken card readers. Audit access credentials quarterly and deactivate cards for people who no longer work or live on the property. A former tenant’s key fob that still opens the parking garage at 2 a.m. is a security gap.
Consider adding bollards or jersey barriers at parking garage entrances to prevent smash-and-drive entries. Several Memphis apartment complexes have dealt with incidents where stolen cars were used to crash through parking gates. A $300 bollard prevents that.
The Insurance Angle
Talk to your insurance broker. Vehicle theft claims on commercial properties can affect your premiums and your renewals. Some carriers are now asking specifically about parking lot security measures during the underwriting process. Having documented security protocols, camera coverage, and patrol contracts can keep your premiums from spiking.
If you manage an apartment complex, your tenants’ auto insurance covers their stolen vehicles. Your property insurance covers the liability if a tenant argues that inadequate security contributed to the theft. That’s the claim you want to prevent.
Stop Waiting for the Problem to Solve Itself
Memphis city officials, the Shelby County District Attorney, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office are all aware of the auto theft crisis. MPD has conducted targeted operations in high-theft areas. Federal prosecutors are bringing carjacking cases with serious prison time attached.
None of that changes what happens in your parking lot tonight. The enforcement apparatus is overwhelmed. More than 9,000 vehicle thefts in 2021 and a police department that clears roughly one in ten auto theft cases means the odds favor the criminals right now.
The businesses and property managers who protect their employees and tenants will be the ones that got ahead of this. The ones who assume it won’t happen to them will eventually become another data point in next year’s crime statistics. Fix the lights, install the cameras, hire the patrol, train your people. The cost of doing something is measurable. The cost of doing nothing shows up as a police report and an empty parking space.