Where Are You Mostly Likely to Get Carjacked? Charting a Meteoric Rise in Philly Carjackings

Alicia Dorsey made a good living as a gig worker, driving passengers to and from destinations and delivering food.

That is, she did until a night in February during a delivery in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood of Philadelphia.

"When I turned around, I see him getting in my car as I ran down the steps like this," Dorsey said, describing an incident in which she was carjacked. "I opened my passenger door and tried to push him out the car, and when I was pushing him out, he put he gun in my face and was like get out get out."

She is one of 768 carjacking victims in 2022 through July 25, a total that is on pace to smash the record set in 2021. NBC10 Investigators analyzed police department data for more than 2,100 carjacking incidents that occurred between the start of 2018 and mid-2022. What the analysis revealed is the months and times of day when carjackings are happening most often, and where in the city the incidents have occurred.

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City police officials say the meteoric rise can be attributed mostly to young people who aren't acting in coordination with any large-scale rings or organized crime groups.

"The organized rings are few and far between," Philadelphia Chief Inspector Frank Vanore said. "I think most of the stuff we’re seeing are kids using it for a variety of reasons, whether it’s to commit another crime, to joyride, to try and get the car for some kind of profit and sell the car."

Why carjackings are happening more since 2020, Vanore couldn't say. One thing that's for sure is that the crime is occurring in many neighborhoods.

Here's Where Carjackings are Taking Place in Philadelphia

Source: Philadelphia Police Department
Credit: Andrew Williams / NBC

Three vehicle brands make up nearly one-third of all carjackings, according to the incident data.

Toyotas, Hondas and Chevys Top the List of the Most Carjacked Vehicles in Philadelphia

Nearly 30% of the cars carjacked since 2018 were of a Toyota, Honda or Chevrolet make. Some of the most popular models to carjack were the Accord and Civic from Honda and the RAV4, Camry and Corolla from Toyota.

Note: Some incidents don't list make or model
Source: Philadelphia Police Department
Credit: Andrew Williams / NBC

One of the more unexpected findings from the four-plus years of data is that colder months -- when there are less daylight hours -- have the most carjackings.

Carjackings Rise Sharply as the Weather Cools

Most carjackings in recent years have happened during colder months like December, October and November. Despite the warmer weather, summer months like June and July have lower rates of carjackings.

Note: This chart does not include 2022
Source: Philadelphia Police Department
Credit: Andrew Williams / NBC

After nightfall is when most carjackings occur, particularly between 8 p.m. and midnight.

Philadelphia police have some tips for making yourself less of a target of would-be carjackers:

“We’re noticing after we do our interviews, a lot of people that are sitting on their cars are on their phones. So they’re not paying attention to their surroundings—not seeing what’s going on—and they’re getting surprised by the offenders," Vanore said. "Out of our carjackings this year especially, 65% or more have been parked, meaning either the owner standing outside their car or they’re sitting in their car, or they just parked and are walking away from their car, because that [carjacker] needs the keys."