 "Photo: Ruben Castillo")
Though temperatures and vehicle thefts have declined in Lubbock, public officials are reminding residents not only is warming an unattended vehicle up in your drive way illegal, it helps thieves.
Kat Anderson, crime prevention coordinator for the South Plains Auto Theft Task Force, said auto theft in Lubbock decreased by 19 percent from 2006 to 2007.
The South Plains Auto Theft Task Force is a Lubbock county entity working to prevent auto thefts in 28 counties including Lubbock County.
Anderson said the decrease in thefts probably is due to several factors including the state's "Lock It or Lose It" radio and TV campaign ads encouraging drivers to lock their car doors and the Help End Auto Theft state-wide program.
The HEAT program allows "any vehicle owner in Texas (to) obtain decals for his/her car or truck that authorizes law enforcement officers to stop the vehicle and verify ownership between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. anywhere in Texas," according to the program's Web site, records.txdps.state.tx.us/heat.
To further reduce auto theft, Anderson said a law that has been in existence since 1995 is being enforced more strictly.
"You can't leave your car running and leave your keys in the ignition," she said. "Nobody's really enforced (the law) but they're showing if you do, insurance rates and auto thefts go down."
According to Texas Transportation Code 545.404, "an operator may not leave the vehicle unattended without: stopping the engine; locking the ignition; removing the key from the ignition; setting the parking brake effectively; and if standing on a grade, turning the front wheels to the curb."
While the decrease in vehicle thefts may be encouraging for Lubbock residents, Anderson said, auto thefts for the entire state are up 11 percent.
"The bigger metro cities are getting hit really bad on the F-250s and F-350s," she said. "Immigrant smugglers are stealing them to go off-roading to smuggle drugs."
Anderson said she believes the smugglers eventually will come to Lubbock, which is the reason she is working to prevent auto theft before it becomes a major problem.
"(It) all starts with the owner," she said, "just taking two seconds to take your key out of the ignition."
Cpl. Darren Lindley, with the Lubbock Police Department, said residents need to be aware of the risks involved in leaving keys in the ignition.
"It does help to write the citation because, during the winter time, people go to warm up their car and go back inside, and when they come out, it is gone," Lindley said. "Sometimes those vehicles are then used later to commit some other crime."
Leaving keys in the ignition of an unattended vehicle is a class C misdemeanor and can cost vehicle owner up to $500.
Though Lindley said it is common to see unattended running vehicles at gas stations, he often offers a warning instead of a citation to make people aware of the law.
"It would help keep the stolen vehicles down to a minimum," he said. "What citizens also need to understand is that some insurance companies won't cover the damages of a stolen vehicle if they leave the key in the ignition. It is a leading cause of why vehicles are stolen."
Cpl. Jack Floyd, the Tech Police Department's crime prevention officer, said Tech police do not enforce the law on campus because Tech does not have a major problem with auto theft.
Though Tech police do not patrol campus for keys left in the ignitions of unattended vehicles, Floyd said the act is still illegal and doing so increases one's risk of having his or her vehicle stolen.
"I do it at my house; you just take a chance," he said. "It's cold; I'd rather be in a nice warm car."
Even in cold weather, Anderson said, leaving keys in the ignition to warm up a car is not OK if the vehicle is unattended.
"Take your key," she said. "Over 50 percent of the cars stolen in Texas had the keys in them - usually in the ignition. People think they're safe, but they'll steal them right out of the drive way. No neighborhood is safer than another."
Anderson said some insurance companies have had to raise rates to compensate for stolen vehicle claims.
"When they pay a claim, it gets passed on to their other customers," she said.
A typical auto thief can strip a car for parts in 30 minutes or less, Anderson said, and drug addicts always are looking for ways to get money.
"They're looking for quick sells, anything they can sell - CDs, laptops, even change - anything they can use to get dope," she said.
