Police chief uses Facebook to address car break-ins
WATERVLIET, N.Y. » City police Chief Mark Spain recently took to social media to reach out to residents about some recent car burglaries.
Spain used the department’s Facebook account Monday to record a 5 ½-minute live video offering tips to prevent car burglaries and telling residents what to do if their car was broken into recently.
Spain said a rash of vehicle breakins has hit the city over the past couple weeks, and with no suspects in custody, he said he wanted to reach out to residents and social media offered the easiest and fastest way to do that.
“I think this is a real good way for us to get the information out there in a quicker manner and a more comprehensive manner than just typing it,” he explained Tuesday. “Last I checked, we were up to over 7,000 views, and we don’t get that kind of reach when we type something out.”
Spain said smaller items are being targeted in the burglaries.
“It’s more taking of change, and I think we might have had a GPS or some kind of small electronic device, but usually it’s stuff that they can stuff in a backpack,” said Spain. “It has kind of been sporadic through the city. We’ll see maybe one block with one or two cars on it, and then two blocks get skipped. To be honest with you, it seems more in line with people just not locking their vehicle doors.”
During the Facebook live video, Spain said he gave some pointers to residents like making sure to lock their vehicle doors.
“Large items, electronic devices, don’t store them in the car, put them in the trunk, so that they are not visible from the outside,” explained Spain. “Lock your doors; don’t necessarily trust your car’s electronic locking device, manually check your locks, too. We’ve had one or two smash and grabs where they actually broke into the car, but those are directly related to purses being left on the front seat, electronic devices in view. I think the point was that people need to be diligent that their cars are locked and everything is safely secured in the vehicle.”
Spain said the department also wanted to let residents know it is important to report any type of car burglary, even if they did leave their car unlocked.
“If your car got broken into because you left it open, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s your fault,” said Spain. “We want you to call us and let us know, so we can at least plot the areas where this stuff is going on.”
The department is taking additional steps to prevent similar burglaries and find the people responsible for the recent break-ins.
“I can tell you that we’re taking steps to ensure that we can put an end to these,” said Spain, though he did not want to put out specific details of those steps.
To receive information and notifications from the police department, follow its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/City-of-Watervliet-Police-181621495465.