Sergeant John Thorme of Greenwich Police Dept presented to the Board of Selectmen their plans to address the ongoing issue of car thefts and larcenies from motor vehicles.
Over the past year the GPD has used social media, community meetings, editorials, radio shows and even an informational flyer inserted to residents’ tax bills to beseech residents to lock their cars.
Sergeant John Thorme said there have been 105 stolen motor vehicles in Greenwich.
“And 105 have been unlocked with the keyfob in them,” he said, adding that there was also a 67% increase in larcenies from motor vehicles.
He said the department will attempt to raise awareness of the problem through a series of signs with different slogans including, “Lock It Or Lose it,” “It’s 8:00pm, Did You Lock Your Car?” or “Stop. Lock. Or Walk.”
He said the project would come out of the police department’s budget.
The time frame for installation of the signs, which will be 18″ x 24″, is post election, beginning in early December. The signs will be located on town property in locations such as the Lake Ave traffic circle.
“It’s kind of embarrassing that our numbers are so high,” Camillo said of the 105 cars stolen with key fobs in them.
“Don’t think it’s only a Greenwich problem,” Thorme said, adding that every night young juvenile offenders go car door to car door to find unlocked motor vehicles in towns including Darien, New Canaan, Norwalk and Stamford.
“Every stolen car that we get recovered gets processed by one of my detectives to get evidence to see if we can make an arrest going forward,” Thorme said.
Thorme was not looking for a vote, but Camillo said he endorsed the idea.
Thorme said the police plan to order about 25 signs for each of the three or four phrases.