Auto Theft and Burglary Prevention Program Expands in Texas

The Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) has joined with the South Plains Auto Burglary and Theft Prevention Authority in Lubbock, Texas, in a crime prevention campaign aimed at preventing auto thefts and auto burglaries.

The program involves funding and distributing of signs that read, “LOCK your car, TAKE your keys and HIDE your belongings.”

The task force located in Lubbock will receive LOCK, TAKE and HIDE signs that will be distributed and placed throughout the Lubbock area in a 28 county region.

In Texas, an estimated 100,000 vehicles are stolen and another 250,000 are burglarized each year. It is also estimated that half of the vehicles stolen had the drivers’ keys left in the ignition and/or unlocked doors.

Kat Anderson with the Auto Theft Task Force said the signs will be going up in both public and private parking areas.

Insurance Council of Texas spokesman Mark Hanna said the LOCK, TAKE and HIDE signs have become one of the more popular crime prevention programs that Task Force members have utilized to deter criminals as well as offer good advice for drivers.

ICT initially started the crime prevention program in Austin on March 2, 2005, and has since begun similar programs in Round Rock, Garland, Mesquite, Frisco, Celina, Del Rio, Houston, Laredo, Brownsville, Highland Village, College Station, Galveston, Beaumont and Waco.

Source: Insurance Council of Texas