Get free etching to help fight car theft
by Lily Leung - Jun. 5, 2008 06:47 AM
The Arizona Republic
The Surprise Police Department on Saturday (6/7/2008) will promote automobile-theft prevention through an event at a home-improvement store.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., police will be at Home Depot Store, 13828 W. Waddell Road, to provide residents with free vehicle identification number, or VIN, etchings and enrollment in the state's Watch Your Car program.
VIN etching, used to prevent motor-vehicle theft, involves stenciling a vehicle's identification number onto its windshield and windows.
Watch Your Car is a free, voluntary program that registers vehicles in the Motor Vehicle Department database. Those registered receive decals for their car windows that convey to police that their vehicles are usually not operated between 1 and 5 a.m., when most car thefts occur. If police see vehicles with the decals operating at those times, they are allowed to stop the drivers to verify ownership.
The first 75 vehicles will receive free steering-wheel locks.
Details: www.stopautotheft.org.