How bad is the crime in your neighborhood? You may be surprised at where the crooks are and what they're looking for. Crime Specialist Karen Schaler is been tracking crime in a special series. Karen what have you found?

We've looked at some of the top community crime concerns here in Salt Lake City. Police say drive by shootings, home invasions/burglaries and auto theft are all major problems. Here's how we compare with other similar sized cities.

Auto theft is three times lower in Winston/Salem, North Carolina So are the number of drive by shootings. Riverside, California also has a much lower auto theft rate. For police there the biggest headache is larceny and burglaries. Des Moines, Iowa is one of the few cities with a HIGHER number of cars stolen at12-thousand cars a year that's twice the number stolen in Salt Lake.

Salt lake police say community crime changes from city to city and right now OUR city is facing some real challenges. Lawrence Newman and his wife Clea have lived in this Poplar grove neighboorhood for 50-years. Last summer on three different nights gunfire jarred them out of bed. Bullets were smashing into the home next to them.

((LAWRENCE NEWMAN-CONCERNED CITIZEN: THEY STARTED SHOOTING AT THE HOUSE THEY SHOT AT A TENT IN THE BACK YARD A LITTLE GIRL WAS SLEEPING THERE BUT SHE MUST OF GOTTEN OUT IN TIME..THEY FOUND BULLET HOLES THRU THE BOTTEM OF THE TENT WHERE SHE'LD BEEN LAYING))

((CLEA NEWMAN-CONCERNED CITIZEN: YOU GET UP AND LOOK AROUND AND TRY TO SEE WHAT IT IS AND STAY AWAY.. YOU TRY TO.))

So far this year there have been 48 drive by, walk by or bike by shootings in the city. Detectives say the number will pick up as the weather warms up. Last year by now there were 84 drive bys. Where are they happening?

Take a look at this city map. Police say a large majority of the Drive by shootings happen between 15 and redwood road -10th north and 17th south. But detectives say drive by's are happening all over the city and 99-percent are gang related.

((LT.CARROLL MAYS-SALT LAKE POLICE DEPT.: IF YOUR HOME SUFFERS DRIVE BY SHOOTINGS YOU SHOULD CHECK THE KIDS TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE NOT INVOLVED IN GANGS))

((IT'S DEFINATELY A COMMUNITY PROBLEM IT'S NOT JUST THE HOUSE THAT'S HIT IT IMPACTS THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOOD.))

Another serious crime police say is happening EVERYWHERE in the city...home invasions and burglaries. One of the last home invasion robberies in Salt Lake City happened on the EAST Side of town. 86 Year old Lou Henroid was with his wife, when two men forced their way into their home, used a fireplace poker to knock Lou out, and then ran off with Lou's wallet.

((LOU HENRIOD-VICTIM HOME INVASION: WE'RE NEVER SAFE WE HAVE TO BE CAREFUL ALL THE TIME))

Another major crime problem in Salt Lake City: cars being ripped off from parking lots to neighborhoods.

((DETECITVE FRANK WERNER-SALT LAKE P.D.: THERE'S NO SPECIAL PLACE IT'S ALL OVER))

Pam Jaramillo and her neighbors have struggled with disappearing cars in their neighborhood They've also had cars broken into.

((PAM JARAMILLO-CAR BROKEN INTO: I HAD AN EXPLORER IT WAS BROKEN INTO THEY STOLE 400-DOLLARS))

More than 500 cars are stolen in the city EVERY month. That's more than 15 cars a DAY!. he average time it takes to steal a car...3 minutes. The number one car to steal here: Jeep Cherokees. Also a popular choice for thieves, GM cars from the mid 80's early 90's.

Detectives say these are the three top community crimes in Salt Lake City, but there are ways to take your neighborhood back and make sure our not a victim We'll have more on how to protect yourself coming up tomorrow night in the second part of our series called "Fighting Back."