On the night of April 22, the Collierville Police Department responded to 16 calls regarding burglarized automobiles. The initial investigation revealed that in nearly every incident, the vehicle was left unlocked. These incidents occurred in neighborhoods near Byhalia and Powell Roads.
The Collierville Police Department has offered the following suggestions to prevent you from becoming the victim of car theft.
• Lock all the doors on your vehicles
Even if you plan to be away from your vehicle for only a brief time, lock your doors. Every year, there are items stolen from unlocked vehicles where the owner was only going to be gone “just for a second.” It only takes seconds for a thief to break in to a car, especially if it is unlocked. 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.
• Don’t leave valuables in your car
If you must leave valuable items in your car while out and about, place those items out of sight before reaching your destination if possible.
• 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.
• 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. Auto-burglars prefer breaking into cars where they will not be observed or attract attention, and choose their targets accordingly.
• 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!)
• What to do if something is stolen out of your car
As soon as you notice something’s stolen (or that your car has been broken into) do not touch/adjust anything in, on, or around the car. As soon as possible, call the Collierville Police Department at 853-3207.
If anyone has any information regarding these auto burglaries, please call Collierville Crime Stoppers at (901) 457-CASH or submit an anonymous tip via text message by texting CPDTIP and your tip to 847411.
