Good crime prevention often involves habits. Getting into
the habit of locking your doors when you leave your house. Having the habit of
locking your car door when you leave it to go into a store or a restaurant.
Police departments throughout the country are trying a
gentle reminder to encourage all of us to get into the habit of locking our car
doors and taking out anything that we might have left in it at night before we
go to bed. They send a nightly tweet at about 9pm on week days with the hashtag
#9PMROUTINE to remind citizens to lock things up.
Car prowlers are a problem at night in residential areas. Being
sure to take out anything in the car and locking it will encourage most car
prowlers and car thieves to go someplace else for an easier target. #9PMROUTINE
targets those crimes by encouraging all of us to take simple measures to
protect our property.
Local police departments that are experimenting with this
campaign include those from Snohomish, Renton, and Puyallup. The Pasco County
Sheriff’s Office in Florida claims a 30 percent decrease in car prowls in the
past year because of this campaign in their county.
Modern crime prevention has long relied on cooperation
between the public and local law enforcement agencies. Being sure to take
everything out of your car and locking it will save bigger problems in the
future from a car prowl or a car theft.
KOMO TV:
Fox 13, Tampa, Florida:
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