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Resolution <br /> No. 21-145 <br /> APPROVING FOR INCLUSION IN THE 2022 <br /> HAWAII STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES <br /> LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE A STATE BILL TO <br /> ESTABLISH CRIMINAL OFFENSES OF <br /> UNLAWFUL CHOP SHOP ACTIVITY <br /> WHEREAS, a "chop shop" is a place of criminal activity, often <br /> mimicking a legitimate auto body or repair shop, where stolen motor <br /> vehicles or motor vehicle parts are taken to be altered to conceal their true <br /> identity; and <br /> WHEREAS, chop . shop activity may include the theft of motor <br /> vehicles and motor vehicle parts, defacing vehicle identification numbers, <br /> re-stamping false vehicle identification numbers into stolen vehicles, and <br /> re-sale of these stolen vehicles to unsuspecting, innocent buyers; and <br /> WHEREAS, according to a "Crime in the U.S. 2019" report by the <br /> Federal Bureau of Investigation's Criminal Justice Information Services <br /> Division, Hawaii had the third-highest motor vehicle theft rate in the <br /> nation at 371.1 per 100,000 people; and <br /> WHEREAS, in 2019, the Maui Police Department reported 661 <br /> motor vehicle theft offenses and $4,421,246 in stolen motor vehicle <br /> property; and <br /> WHEREAS, there is no State statute covering the criminal <br /> misconduct of chop shop activity, and the need for such a statute has been <br /> established through numerous auto theft investigations that led to the <br /> discovery of chop shop activity as part of the criminal misconduct; now, <br /> therefore, <br /> BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the County of Maui: <br /> 1. That the proposed State bill, attached as Exhibit "A," to <br /> establish criminal offenses of unlawful chop shop activity, is <br /> approved for inclusion in the 2022 Hawaii State Association <br /> of Counties Legislative Package; and <br />