The Bay Area is experiencing a rash of auto burglaries, and while arrests have been made in Palo Alto over several smash-and-grabs and a break-in spree in Sunnyvale this week, authorities say there’s more you can do to prevent yourself from being burglarized.
Or, maybe less?
Reddit user NotTheBrain asserts that he hasn’t suffered a broken car window or auto burglary in 26 years of living in the Bay Area. He offers up these hints.
The Dirt Anti-Theft System:
- Leave lots of random garbage inside, but not clothing or food.
- You want the car to look dirty, but not lived in.
- Paper trash is best and easiest to clean out of the interior.
- Never wash the exterior.
Healthy debates continue online about locking doors and keeping windows up. Reddit user mantrap2 summarized the two ways of looking at this burglary prevention decision:
“You can either leave your car unlocked and empty or locked and empty (usually). There are arguments both ways. Down in ‘South Central LA’ we’d do the former and that usually worked fine. We also tried to own ‘less than nice’ cars as camouflage.”
Some Bay Area residents keep notes in their windows:
Creativity contest! Okay it’s not really a contest BUT I do want to hear from you! Have you taken a pic of a note in or on a car like this? Please show me your best plea to SF car break in thieves! @SFCarBreakins @abc7newsbayarea pic.twitter.com/H8X1nppTyc
— Melanie Woodrow (@MelanieWoodrow) September 12, 2018
Meanwhile, there’s another discussion to be had on the merit of keeping attack bees in your car versus a trunk monkey:
The monkey’s origins as an anti-theft trope and automated parking assistant are disputed, and in spite of the photo below, San Francisco police do not in fact prefer a decoy purse with thousands of angry, poisonous bees:
The sign near Alamo Square Park lists the phone number for the San Francisco Police Department below the bee tip. The San Francisco Chronicle and NBC Bay Area both investigated its origin last year and requested comment from the department. It turned out residents in the area created the signs, according to NBC Bay Area.
Police urge residents to use situational awareness and their best judgment. Signs telling would-be criminals that your car is empty and asking them not to break windows may work. On the other hand, they may not.
I ran into Walgreens in Santa Clara for 5 minutes and now my backpack+laptop is stolen. Learn from me and don’t underestimate how quickly they can pounce on your belongings.
byu/spauldeagle inbayarea
Police in San Jose and Palo Alto offer a different perspective — and these tips:
1. Lock your car.
2. Remove all valuables.
3. Move essentials, if possible.
4. Use a trunk release lock in your car or on your keys if you have one.
5. Disable your interior trunk release button altogether.
5. Park in well-lit and visible locations.
6. Practice situational awareness.
7. If you see something, say something.
Safety.com compiled this list of the top 10 most stolen vehicles last year:
Honda Civic: 45,062 models were stolen in 2017
Honda Accord: 43,764 models were stolen in 2017
Full-size Ford pickup: 35,105 models were stolen in 2017
Full-size Chevrolet pickup: 30,058 models were stolen in 2017
Toyota Camry: 17,278 models were stolen in 2017
Nissan Altima: 13,358 models were stolen in 2017
Toyota Corolla: 12,337 models were stolen in 2017
Dodge pickup: 12,004 models were stolen in 2017
Full-size GMC pickup: 10,865 models were stolen in 2017
Chevrolet Impala: 9,487 models were stolen in 2017
Photos: The top 10 most stolen vehicles last year. CLICK HERE if you are having a problem viewing the media on a mobile device.
