Criminal Awareness Strategy: Lock Your Vehicle

On a cold night, while picking up food at a pick-up-only restaurant, I noticed a car with its engine running directly outside the restaurant. No one was in the car, but it was probably warm inside. If you would like someone to steal your vehicle, this is a perfect scenario.

In the news, a woman was pumping gas. She was interrupted by a carjacking situation. The criminal had easy access to her car by opening the unlocked passenger side door and sliding over into the driver’s seat. Since the keys were not in the ignition, the criminal was not able to drive away. However, the woman had to deal with the criminal in the car. It did not look like a fun encounter.

Carjacking seems to be on the rise. For example, according to Chicago police, Chicago carjackings surged to 1,362 in 2020, which was a 105% increase compared to 2019.

Like putting on a seatbelt, locking car doors should become a habit.  When you are in the vehicle and when you leave your vehicle unattended, lock the doors.

As a bonus common sense vehicle security strategy, never leave your vehicle with the keys in the ignition. Criminals will take your vehicle or get in and wait for you to return.

Criminals love to look for people who are not aware of their surroundings and careless. They search for easy victims. Criminals delight in stealing unattended valuable merchandise, such as a car.

Do not be an easy victim. Look for ways to avoid problems, and teach others the strategy of locking vehicle doors.

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