Urgent Warning From Police For South Jersey Vehicle Owners

It's not often that police in South Jersey reach out to me to ask a special favor. In fact, it has never happened until now.

But that's what developed this week, and I am doing what I can to help get the word out.

Margate City Police Captain Joe Scullion, the Operations Division Commander, asked me to tell you to lock your car.

He said to please pass the word to listeners that Atlantic County is experiencing real problems with stolen cars this summer, in towns along the shore and inland towns as well.

There is something that vehicle owners can do to prevent this from happening to them, but they aren't doing it.

This is frustrating to the police, and I can't really blame them.

When your vehicle is stolen, you call the police, who respond and spend several man-hours investigating, writing up forms, and following leads.

If you had just locked the car in the first place, that time would be spent on something more beneficial to the community and less inconvenient to you.

Why There Are So Many Stolen Vehicles This Summer

Captain Joe from the Margate PD shared some of his knowledge and expertise from years as a cop when he asked me to get the word out about stolen cars in South Jersey.

After investigating many of these cases himself, one similarity emerged in practically all of the stolen vehicle cases this summer.

Captain Joe, who is trained to pick up on these things, did some excellent police work and figured out what the common bond was in these thefts.

Let me quote Captain Joe's email to me about his findings.

We have seen a large number of cars being stolen within recent weeks, along with a number of municipalities in Atlantic County. In almost all cases, the vehicle's key fob was left in the car, making it very easy for the car to be stolen.

 

So, basically, make a quick reminder to remove your key fobs from your cars before going to bed at night and securing them in your house away from where your car is parked(sometimes the fob signal can reach the car if placed near an exterior wall or door near the parked car).

There it is. That's the message directly from the man trying to stop people from stealing your car.

Do him --  and yourself --  a big favor and lock your vehicle and take the key with you.

Your friendly neighborhood police officer thanks you.