Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown looks in a car at the Toledo park and ride to see if any valuables are laying in plain view.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – When you take advantage of the sunshine this weekend to leave your car behind and put the boat in the water or go for a walk on a public trail, you might return to find you’ve been the victim of a vehicle prowl.
Or not.
It’s also possible you’ll discover a green postcard-sized note on your windshield indicating someone has checked to see if your doors were locked.
Lewis County sheriff’s deputies and volunteers will be providing extra patrolling around places where most car break-ins have been reported.
Trail heads and boat launches as well park and rides are among those locations targeted.
Sheriff Steve Mansfield’s new program which began this week involves leaving a card either congratulating the driver for locking up, or reminding them they’ve left themselves vulnerable to a theft.
The idea is to encourage folks to lock their doors every time they park. A lot of this kind of crime is easily preventable, according to the sheriff’s office.
Today, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown was out and about, trying to get a sense of what’s out there.
At the Blue Creek Boat Launch parking lot off Spencer Road south of Ethel, she peered into nine vehicles and checked their doors.
All but one were locked, although a fishing pole lay visible on the back seat of one of them.
Thieves will go to the trouble of breaking a window even for something like a fishing pole, Brown said.
More and more, they’re seeing people leave devices like iPods, GPS units and cell phones in plain view inside their cars, she said.
“I think my biggest hope is thieves will come in the area and see these (green cards) and know we’re actually working the area,” she said.
One location with more problems than most is the Rails to Trails parking area off Highway 603, south of state Route 6, according to Brown.
“Almost all the car prowls we’ve had (there) have been unlocked,” Brown said. “Only a couple of them we had windows broken.”
Chief Brown leaves a card on a vehicle at the Blue Creek Boat Launch notifying the driver the area was checked and congratulating them for locking their doors.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
I think this is just creepy. I don’t want anyone walking up and checking my doors or peering into my vehicle. And who are these “volunteers”? If I leave my door unlocked and someone steals my stuff then tough luck. And if the deputy or “volunteer” leaves a card but they don’t actually lock my door and some thief comes by before I do, won’t that let the thief know my car is unlocked??? How much is this costing us as taxpayers?? This really just doesn’t make ay sense to me at all.
I’m wondering…. are they keeping records of the license plates of the cars they check? Are they doing checks to see who the owner of the car is? What database is this information going in? Where did they come up with the money for a program like this?
How many car alarms are they going to be setting off. Leave my vehicle alone! You have no business touching it! What’s next? Walking door to door to see if we lock our houses?