Teaming With Police To Keep Your Car Safe

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Story Published: Nov 2, 2009 at 9:55 AM PDT

By Peter Bukowski

YAKIMA -- They're called crimes of opportunity for a reason. A car, warming in the driveway becomes easy prey for car thieves.

We sat down with Lt. Mike Merryman with Yakima Police to find out what mistakes people might be making to put their cars at risk.

"Good folks, go out, start the car up, go back inside to take care of a few last minutes things before work and while the frost melts off the windshield then those would take advantage of that situation come along and steal the car,"Merryman says.

The easiest way to protect your car, may also be the simplest. But it's advice not everyone follows

"The first thing of course is to have the car locked and not have the keys in the car. It sounds like a simple thing but we get those reports on a regular basis."

Even if you keep your car locked, there are people out there who know how to take it anyway. That's why having the black and white of patrol cars in neighborhoods is so critical.

Merryman explains,"Auto thefts, vehicle prowls, burglaries, those types of property crimes, we can have a pretty big impact with the high visibility patrols as opposed to crimes like domestic violence which really there's not much of an impact."

They can keep your stuff safe, because cops are out looking for crime before it happens.

"The officers are able to be proactive. They're not just going call to call, they're not just going from your door to the next and then reports, but they're putting their heads together," offers Merryman.

The more cops on the street, the more teamwork your can have. That means a higher success rate.

"So if you put a couple 3 things together when we can have an impact to either deter crime or catch the bad guys. "

And you can help yourself by remembering walking out a chilly car, is better than letting a thief drive off in a warm one.

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