[Vision2020] PR - MPD Auto Burgs

[Stephanie Kalasz]

MOSCOW POLICE DEPARTMENT

118 East 4th Street

Moscow, Idaho 83843

Tel: 208-882-COPS    Fax: 208-882-4020

 

 


PRESS RELEASE

 

 

Recently, the City of Moscow has seen an increase in vehicle burglaries.
One crime you can really help us prevent is auto-burglary. Thefts from
vehicles occur at all hours, day and night. All auto-burglaries
generally have one thing in common: they are crimes of opportunity,
something valuable left in a car and something to steal.  This could all
be avoided if you follow a few simple prevention steps.


Auto-burglary prevention, like all crime prevention, involves limiting
the criminal's ability and/or opportunity to commit the crime. With very
little time and effort, you can make a huge difference in your
vulnerability to auto-burglary. 

It generally takes a few seconds to secure your valuables, but it takes
only a few seconds longer for a thief to break in and steal valuables
left in plain sight.

 

AUTO-BURGLARY
PREVENTION TIPS...

The first thing you can do to help: Don't leave valuables in your car -
and make sure it is locked.


Are your valuables VISIBLE?
Don't be the next car burglary victim!

The last thing you need is to find your vehicle's window broken or items
missing. We suggest taking these simple but important steps to maintain
your car's safety: 

 Don't leave valuables in your car. That sounds like "common sense", but
drivers/passengers do leave items of value in plain view every day. If
you leave valuable items visible in your car, your car is automatically
a target. 

If you must leave valuable items in your car while out and about, place
items out of sight. This includes packages, backpacks, gym bags, GPS
units, MP3 players, and even loose change.

 

Leave no trace. Don't leave any "sign" that there might be valuables
"out of sight" in your vehicle, such as docking stations or connector
cables. Leave nothing in "plain sight" that might make your vehicle
worth "investigating" by a thief; not even loose coins or a CD. 

 

Lock ALL your vehicle's doors even if you plan to be gone for only a
brief time. Every year, we have items stolen from unlocked vehicles
where the owner was only going to be gone "just for a second". It only
takes seconds to steal your stuff! It's not at all uncommon for thieves
to walk down a row of parked vehicles and check vehicle doors to see if
they are unlocked. Don't leave any window open or even cracked open,
including vent/wing windows and sunroofs.  

 

Set any alarm or anti-theft device. If you have one, use it! Many people
believe that car-alarms no longer make a difference, but they can be an
effective deterrent to an auto-burglar, who most often chooses the
easiest target. If they have two cars to choose from, one with an alarm
and one without, they will likely burglarize the one without (unless
you've left out valuables just too good to ignore!).  Locking your car
and setting your alarm is just part of the solution. Even if locked and
alarmed, if you leave valuables (or the hint of valuables) in plain
sight, a thief may target your car, even knowing it's locked and
alarmed. But, without a clear prize in sight, a locked/alarmed car will
likely be bypassed for an easier "target of opportunity".

 

Try to park in busy, well-lighted areas. Try to park in well-traveled
areas. Large anonymous lots are hit by thieves much more often than
parking immediately adjacent to residential housing or other occupied
buildings. On a busy campus, day or night, "picking" your parking spot
is easier said than done - but try to choose a well-lighted, visible,
parking spot where there is lots of vehicular and pedestrian movement
when possible. Auto-burglars prefer breaking into cars where they will
not be observed or attract notice, and choose their targets accordingly.


 

Report Suspicious activity

If you see suspicious activity, it is extremely important to call 911.


"Suspicious Activity" would include: 

*       Persons walking up and down aisles of parking lots looking into
cars or trying door handles, vehicles cruising parking lots at very slow
speeds for extended periods while observing parked cars (this is not an
unusual pattern on campus as students, faculty and staff hunt for
parking spaces; there should be other indicators of apparent ill intent)


*       Persons making any kind of mark or placing anything ON parked
vehicles,  

*       Persons sitting in running parked cars for protracted periods,
and vehicles dropping one person off while continuing to cruise the same
area. We'd prefer to check on an innocent citizen going about their
business than to not check and end up taking theft-from-vehicle reports.


 

 

 

DANIEL L. WEAVER
Prepared by: 

            Chief of Police
Officer R. Whitmore - Crime Prevention                       

 

 

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