Protect your car from GPS theft
Want to make your car an inviting target for a smash-and-grab thief? Just park it with the GPS unit in plain sight.
When it comes to GPS car prowls, the numbers are headed in one direction -- up dramatically.
It's happening around the Puget Sound and across the country. GPS thefts are up in Issaquah. They're up in Bellevue. And they're way up in Redmond. Police say the thieves get lucky when we get careless.
Paul Bryant became a crime statistic last week when someone broke into his car and tried to steal his mobile GPS unit.
"And it was completely brazen," he said. "There are cars everywhere, people coming home from work. It just took a matter of seconds."
Bryant says his car was parked in a well-lit area, but that didn't stop the thief.
"He saw it sitting up there and said, 'there's an easy $100 bucks.' And so he walked around the side of the car, broke the window, reached in grabbed the GPS," he said.
Lucky for Bryant, the clumsy crook dropped the unit and ran away. But replacing the busted window will cost him $250.
Police in Issaquah say they have seen a drastic increase in GPS thefts. Officers saw 12 GPS-related car prowls in all of last year, but they've already seen 11 cases this year.
In Bellevue, police received 173 reports of GPS thefts between April 2007 and April 2008.
At this time last year, Redmond police had just 18 reports of GPS-targeted car prowls. This year the number is 80 and climbing. At the current pace, the department continues another 170-percent increase in the number of cases by the end of the year.
Jim Bove with the Redmond Police Department says a visible GPS unit is an obvious target, but so is a GPS mount left attached to the window.
"It's a smash and grab, which is done in a matter of seconds. And it's much more difficult to spot somebody doing it and if they are spotted by the time police arrive, a lot of times it's too late because the thief has already gone,: he said.
Even if you take the GPS unit with you, but you leave the mount or the circle on the window, the thief might break into your car thinking it's in there.
"The unit may not even be in the vehicle, but if there's a sign that a GPS unit was being used in the vehicle, then they'll break in looking for it," said Bove.
Redmond police want to fight back. They've just launched a public education campaign with a simple message -- remove it or lose it. Don't leave anything inside your car that a thief could steal.
We think we're clever when we put that music player or GPS unit in the glove compartment or under the seat. But here's a reality check: crooks know where to look.
More Information:
Redmond Police GPS Vehicle Prowls
When it comes to GPS car prowls, the numbers are headed in one direction -- up dramatically.
It's happening around the Puget Sound and across the country. GPS thefts are up in Issaquah. They're up in Bellevue. And they're way up in Redmond. Police say the thieves get lucky when we get careless.
Paul Bryant became a crime statistic last week when someone broke into his car and tried to steal his mobile GPS unit.
"And it was completely brazen," he said. "There are cars everywhere, people coming home from work. It just took a matter of seconds."
Bryant says his car was parked in a well-lit area, but that didn't stop the thief.
"He saw it sitting up there and said, 'there's an easy $100 bucks.' And so he walked around the side of the car, broke the window, reached in grabbed the GPS," he said.
Lucky for Bryant, the clumsy crook dropped the unit and ran away. But replacing the busted window will cost him $250.
Police in Issaquah say they have seen a drastic increase in GPS thefts. Officers saw 12 GPS-related car prowls in all of last year, but they've already seen 11 cases this year.
In Bellevue, police received 173 reports of GPS thefts between April 2007 and April 2008.
At this time last year, Redmond police had just 18 reports of GPS-targeted car prowls. This year the number is 80 and climbing. At the current pace, the department continues another 170-percent increase in the number of cases by the end of the year.
Jim Bove with the Redmond Police Department says a visible GPS unit is an obvious target, but so is a GPS mount left attached to the window.
"It's a smash and grab, which is done in a matter of seconds. And it's much more difficult to spot somebody doing it and if they are spotted by the time police arrive, a lot of times it's too late because the thief has already gone,: he said.
Even if you take the GPS unit with you, but you leave the mount or the circle on the window, the thief might break into your car thinking it's in there.
"The unit may not even be in the vehicle, but if there's a sign that a GPS unit was being used in the vehicle, then they'll break in looking for it," said Bove.
Redmond police want to fight back. They've just launched a public education campaign with a simple message -- remove it or lose it. Don't leave anything inside your car that a thief could steal.
We think we're clever when we put that music player or GPS unit in the glove compartment or under the seat. But here's a reality check: crooks know where to look.
More Information:
Redmond Police GPS Vehicle Prowls