Common sense, and working locks, best in deterring theft

Lock up, hide or remove valuable electronics, advises Bill Hargett.

As police chief of Emerald Isle, he is frustrated by the number of vehicle owners who neglect to secure their property at the beach and around town.

“When people come to the beach, especially, they don’t lock their car doors — if we had a 100-percent car lock rate here, stolen electronics and personal items would decrease rapidly, because 99.9 percent of the time entry is gained through an unlocked and unsecured vehicle,” he said. “Carry it inside, lock it in the trunk or don’t leave it in plain view.”

Many crimes are crimes of opportunity, said Jacksonville Police Deputy Chief Paul Spring.

“People need to be mindful,” he said. “Think like a criminal. Don’t leave GPS systems and satellite radio receivers, laptop computers — anything valuable like that — out in the open.”

North Topsail Beach Police Chief Casey Fillinger has four open cases from May he is continuing to investigate.

“We had four vehicles broken into,” he said. “Two GPSs, a Sirius Satellite radio, iPod and radar detector were stolen — these are certainly items that are targeted,” he said. “It is important for people to not become complacent … You would be surprised by the number of people who leave their cars open and windows down. There are a lot of people that will take advantage of that.”  

Vehicle break-ins for valuable electronic items have increased in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. Police in Raleigh reported an 80-percent increase in property stolen from cars citywide in the last year.

Spring said JPD does not have data compiled but predicts Jacksonville will not be far behind the trend as these types of devices become more prolific.

 “GPS systems … laptop computers are easy items to steal, you can just snatch and grab — they don’t require much effort at all to remove,” he said.

Keeping a record of the serial numbers, makes and models of all electronic equipment — auto or home — is equally important, Spring said.

“Without serial numbers, it really limits us, because you can’t really prove it is yours,” he said. “In our investigations, we may check pawn shops … For any electronics; if you have the serial number it helps with identification.

Contact Suzanne Ulbrich at 910-219-8454 or sulbrich@freedomenc.com.