Officers take action to deter auto thefts
In an effort to reduce the numbers of stolen vehicles, state and local law enforcement officials are teaming this weekend to begin the “Tennessee Watch Your Car” initiative.
According to McMinnville Police Capt. Bryan Denton, officers from McMinnville Police Department and Tennessee Highway Patrol will be outside Three Star Mall from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday to help decal vehicles for those who want to participate.
The decal program involves placing special stickers on both your front and rear windows. The decals convey to officers that the vehicle is generally not driven between the hours of 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. If an officer spots the vehicle on the road during those hours, the decal gives the officer permission to pull over the vehicle and question the driver. The officer will also have a database with the owner’s contact numbers in case he needs to confirm the car should be out at the late hour.
Denton said the decals, in addition to potentially alerting officers of a stolen vehicle, can also help parents with children who may use the car without permission at a late hour, by the looming possibility of being pulled over by police.
In addition to the decals, officers will be offering a windshield identification etching where the vehicle identification number is placed in the windshield. By doing this, lawmen have another way to identify a car as stolen if it is recovered. It will also make resell-ing the windshield tougher for thieves since the VIN is etched on the windshield. Denton pointed out stolen windshields are in high demand.
The initiative was started in hopes of cutting down the number of auto thefts in the state. Over 30,000 vehicles are stolen each year in Tennessee, with just six out of 10 of the vehicles ever being recovered. The high toll of stolen cars, which costs about $7.5 billion each year nationwide, represents about 10 percent of the typical insurance premium the public pays.
Police say older vehicles are more likely to be stolen than newer models.
In addition to the fact newer models have more complex theft deterrent systems, the older vehicles are in demand due to the shortage of spare parts.