Following a national trend, the number of reported vehicle thefts continued to drop last year in the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area, according to a report released this week by the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

Vehicle thefts in 2007 in the Roanoke MSA were down to 453, a 16 percent decrease from 538 thefts in 2005, according to the NICB report. Nationwide, vehicle thefts have decreased 10 percent since 2005.

The Roanoke MSA includes the cities of Roanoke and Salem and the counties of Botetourt, Craig, Franklin and Roanoke.

Experts attribute the overall decrease to more public education, rewards for information about stolen vehicles and better technology to protect vehicles.

And finding stolen vehicles may have just gotten easier for Roanoke police.

On Wednesday, the department began using the Mobile Plate Hunter, a license plate-scanning device on police cruisers that is hooked up to an in-car computer.

As vehicles drive by the cruiser, the scanner reads the plate numbers and compares them with a database of stolen cars. When the device detects a stolen vehicle, it immediately alerts the officer.

In two days of using the new scanner, Roanoke officers found two stolen vehicles and one stolen license plate, said Sgt. Tammy Carmichael, who oversees the department's property crimes squad.

The department bought the devices with confiscated drug money, but they would not say how much they paid or how many they purchased.

Carmichael is hoping the device will increase the recovery of stolen vehicles. She estimated that Roanoke police are able to find about 75 percent of the vehicles that are reported stolen.

Thieves in Roanoke, and across the nation, tend to favor older cars.

Their favorites are Honda Civics. The 1995 model ranks first in the nation, according to the NICB report, which used data reported to the FBI's National Crime Information Center.

Late 1980s and early 1990s models are historically the most popular in Roanoke, Carmichael said.

Some experts believe the older cars are targeted for their parts, which are easily resold.

But police in Roanoke said they don't see that happening much. The majority of people who steal cars in Roanoke do it because they want to go on a joyride or get from one place to another, Carmichael said.

She believes older models are popular among thieves because they have fewer theft deterrents.

Most car thefts in the city happen at ATMs or convenience stores, where drivers frequently leave their cars running or unlocked with the keys still inside, Carmichael said.

And about 35 percent of the vehicles that are reported stolen in Roanoke were actually traded for drugs, Carmichael said.

When a user doesn't have enough money to buy drugs, they agree to let the dealer use his or her car for a few hours, she said. When users don't get the cars back, they report them stolen.

Frustrated by investigating these types of cases, police have begun charging the vehicle's owner with filing a false police report.

Many times, the vehicle's owner won't press charges against the dealer because they either don't know the person's name or because they fear retaliation, Carmichael said.

"Or, they're afraid to lose their source of illicit drugs," she said.