The province announced Friday it will give police services 18-million dollars over three years to help fight auto theft.
That includes over $608,000 allocated to the St. Thomas Police Service.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says auto theft is a growing problem and the funding will help dismantle organized crime networks and get criminals off the streets.
The grants are set to fund 21 projects, including buying new software, GPS and tracking devices, providing specialized training to investigators, creating new units dedicated to auto theft, and expanding data collection and analysis.
The government says that from 2014 to 2021 there was a 72 per cent increase in auto theft across the province, and a 14 per cent increase in the last year alone.
