If a Santa Clarita Valley resident finds a new, bright-yellow notice on his or her car or truck courtesy of a Sheriff’s Station deputy or volunteer, it could be a new head’s up alert from the station.
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station officials are trying to raise awareness and cut down on crimes of opportunity throughout Santa Clarita and the unincorporated areas with the new notices.
Volunteers, and deputies, when the opportunity arises, have notices saying “Auto Theft/Burglary Prevention Program: Your vehicle has determined to be at risk for the following reasons:”
The notice then lists several factors that put a resident at risk of becoming victimized, such as “door left unlocked” or “valuable property left in plain sight.”
“It’s part of a new proactive approach we’re taking at the direction of Capt. (Roosevelt) Johnson to help residents become aware when they’re putting themselves at risk,” said Deputy Josh Dubin of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station’s Crime Prevention Unit.
The unit regularly analyzes crime data and puts out Nixle reports detailing information on crime trends for residents.
Unlocked doors, garages and other vehicles are frequently a target for thieves, and deputies are hoping to cut down on the thefts.
These crimes tend to rise during the summer, Dubin said, making this the best time to implement the notices.
When asked if the notices would serve as alerts for would-be thieves, Dubin pointed out a notice also would imply deputies are in the area and on patrol.
The program was modeled after successful versions of a similar system at county Sheriff’s Stations, he added.
In an interview early last year, Deputy Regina Yost, who manages the Valencia zone for the Crime Prevention Unit, said these types of so-called crimes of opportunity account for more than half of the incidents she handles.
Valuables left out in the open could tempt a would-be thief to smash a window for electronics that are easily resold, she said.
“I think the biggest thing is iPods and iPhones — if a person sees a charger cord hanging from any part of a vehicle, they assume an item is connected to it,” she mentioning expensive bags for equipment or briefcases.
Anyone with information about a crime is still being asked to call the Sheriff’s Station st 255-1121.
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30 Comments
Thank you LASD!
Great until thieves realize if they look for the big yellow paper on a car they have a target.
Ding! Ding!
Don’t get me wrong, they are trying to help, BUT if someone is doing the last 3 on the list….a “warning” isn’t going to help them.
I almost feel it like hey look at my car I left stuff inside come take it. I’m not saying I leave stuff in my car but for thieves it’s a big target to see that yellow paper.
So if I don’t leave stuff out then I won’t have a yellow paper on my car, sounds good to me.
Awesome, so they’ve decided to do all the legwork for the thieves so that all they’ll need to do is look for yellow tags?
Hey thanks for putting a target on our vehicles.
This is a good idea to let thieves know they can hit the car. I saves them a lot of time from going car to ca. SCV has done half of their work. Way to go. It’s as bad as people leaving their advertisements on the doors and entry way letting thieves know that you aren’t at home.
Really.. There ya go trying to save us from our selves…. Tell us what to eat,what to watch, etc, now where to park,and if we bought the right car… Don’t buy the one that is “Highly targeted type” lol what a joke
How about spending our taxes on more useful items. This basically tells people, “hey this car is easy to steal. Go ahead, we already checked that the door is unlocked, iPad is on the dash, and we can’t be seen in the dark.” Looks like car theft is gonna go up and the litter of yellow paper will skyrocket
Seriously?! These tags will just let the thieves know which cars to hit. This is one of the most insane things I have heard of. What is next – bright yellow tags plastered on the front of our homes telling all the thieves how best to get into our homes?! Total waste of taxpayer $ and volunteer time.
How about people be more responsible and not leave valuables in their car so the deputies don’t have to waste so much time on this and can focus on their job? Oh that would require common sense and taking responsibility so never mind!
I almost feel bad for you…almost:-)
so kind of the sheriff’s dept to point out the prey for the predators!!!
R they actually gonna try ur door to see if it’s unlocked???
They will Sheila, but the biggest clue is when the older cars made this obvious.
The most careful people make mistakes. I have had made mistakes. There was time,in my teens as well aware of car thefts, left my my keys in the car, in the ignition, while the car was running, to run into the store to get that something, to come out of the store, searching for the keys, to realize, it’s in ignition, with the doors unlocked….thirty years ago. We’re all human. This happens. To put a tag on someone’s car alerts thieves of an easy target. Think about it. That one time you would never, ever make a mistake and you do.a
Waste of taxpayer money
Its an interesting idea with good intentions but I think it leaves to door wide open for risk and liability. I am also curious to know how they check to see if the door is locked or unlocked as in some vehicles it is difficult to view. Do they physically check by trying to open the door?
#SCVSHERIFFCOURTESYWARNING
I don’t care if you’re a cop or not…don’t touch my car at all even to check if it’s lock! I lock my stuff up no worries.
That just tells burglars which cars are easy targets!
There should be courtesy warnings for those people with stupid looking Hondas too
Everybody on the comment section that have negative comments are idiots. Basically you all are children getting yellow tagged, mommy needs to remind you to use your common sense or be a victim. Kudos to Scv LASD. Keeps my investment/property values up and oh yeah keeps grown children safe too.
Please tell us who’s brilliant idea this was?
Dear cop. Stop murderers. Don’t waste time filling this out. You have better uses of your time.
Oh awesome town.
So dumb attracts criminals
I would hope they have better things to do. Great use of taxpayer $$s.
Please tell all the thieves my car is an easy target while I’m shopping at the mall
Give me a break