How Many Vehicle Thefts Were Victim-Facilitated?
No intelligent person would put from $1,000 to $5,000 in good money in the street and expect to find it there an hour later, yet that is exactly what a large number of people do when they leave an auto- mobile in the street without locking it. Even more, not only are they leaving money at the curb but they
TH E O N GO IN G C ON T RO VE RSY O VE R S HARE D RE S P ON S IB I L I T Y 145
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are also putting four wheels under it to make it easier for the thief to take it.
AUGUST VOLLMER, POLICE CHIEF, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA (VOLLMER AND PARKER, 1936: 65)
Yet through all this practical, emotional, and mone- tary attachment to the automobile, there emerges convincing evidence that it is one of the motorist’s most carelessly neglected possessions.
J. EDGAR HOOVER, FBI DIRECTOR (HOOVER, 1966)
Use common sense: Lock your car and take your keys. It’s simple enough, but many thefts occur because owners make it easy for thieves to steal their cars.