SLRC sees drop in auto thefts
Police place locks on unsecured vehicles to prevent crimes
SAN LUIS RIO COLORADO, Son. — This city saw a drop of twothirds in the number of reported auto thefts in the first four months of 2018, according to statistics provided by the state’s public safety agency.
Julio Cesar Valenzuela, the police chief of the border city across from San Luis, Ariz., says various factors could be involved in the reduction. But no doubt one of the most important, he says, are measures taken by the owners on their own to prevent theft of their vehicles.
And in case they don’t, police just may lock up their vehicles.
In a campaign dubbed Actuando y Previniendo (Acting and Preventing), city police officers place steering wheel locks on unlocked vehicles they see in the downtown area immediately south of the border.
Drivers who find the locks on their cars when they return have to dial 911 to summon police officers to remove them. And while they’re at it, the officers may give them a lecture about the risk of auto theft and steps they can take to minimize it.
Valenzuela said most thefts occur in the city because motorists have left the doors unlocked or windows open. In some cases, he said, drivers lose their vehicles to thieves because they leave their keys in the cars. Some drivers even lose their cars because they leave them momentarily with the engines running.
“That’s a common practice among drivers,” he said. “And that’s where traffic officers enforce a regulation in the Acting and Preventing program, which is to place a steering wheel lock on any vehicle under those circumstances.”
The campaign was launched in the summer of 2016 in response to high auto theft rates in the city.
In the first four months of that year, 117 auto thefts had been reported in the San Luis Rio Colorado. In the same period of 2017, 119 were reported.
But from January through April of 2018, the number of reported thefts dropped to 40, according to Sonora’s Public Safety Ministry.
There were 12 vehicles reported stolen last January, nine in February, 11 in march and eight in May. That compares with a statewide average in Sonora of 29 per month.
Valenzuela stops short of giving the anti-theft campaign full credit for the drop. But he said motorists can go a long way in protecting their vehicles by applying steering wheel locks on their own, by locking doors, and by not leaving valuables in vehicles in sight of potential thieves.
“Citizen participation is important as far as taking preventative measures against vehicle thefts,” Valenzuela said.