'Lock It or Lose It' Aims to Stop Thefts from Cars

In the past two weeks' police reports alone, there have been 13 thefts or attempted thefts reported from unlocked cars.

"Northampton Township has been experiencing a rash of thefts from unlocked vehicles during the overnight hours in specific locations throughout the Township," a police statement said. "If you leave your vehicles unlocked and with valuables inside you are inviting thieves to your neighborhood."

The department is hoping a message to community members with their "Lock It or Lose It" campaign will get them to lock up so they don't lose out.

Police Chief Barry Pilla said it's an epidemic across the nation: apathy.

Unlike a town outside of Boston where police officers have taken matters into their own hands by locking unlocked cars, Pilla said the NTPD's approach is more proactive and pro-prevention.

"Our philosophy ... has always been to instruct our officers to take the most appropriate and lawful action necessary to address the situation confronting the officer," he said.

Officers who've found locked or unlocked cars with visible valuables generally attempt to contact the registered owner, he said.

"I feel confident that if a NTPD officer decided the only course of action available was to lock the vehicle, he or she would look to see if the keys were in the vehicle. If so, the officer would remove the keys and leave a note stating same before locking it," he said.

There are a few reasons that a car may be left unlocked. Either the owner feels safe in her or her community or it's simply out of forgetfulness. But, in many cases, the cars contain valuables in plain view, Pilla said.

The department has had several reports where unlocked and locked cars were adjacent to one another and only the unlocked one was tampered with.

"When thieves find all of the vehicles in a particular community locked, you will be helping yourself and your neighbors by eliminating easy targets," the statement said.

Pilla said the crime rate in the township has been dropping. Based on recently released data, the number of part one and two crimes decreased by more than 100 from 2009 to 2010, and is on track to be lower still in 2011.

However, the number of thefts from unlocked cars stays steady and clogs up the police blotter each week. Pilla said figuring out how how to change that is like answering the game show host's "$64,000 question."

"After 35 years a member of our [department], I believe I know our community," Pilla said. "The bottom line is that we are blessed with an extremely cooperative community."

The other bottom line question is: Will it work?