Many people feel powerless in stopping thieves from taking your car. This mis-placed thinking is a tremendous aid to car thieves in Maryland. In 1995, the Maryland Vehicle Theft Prevention Council granted a study performed by the Baltimore Regional Auto Theft Team to assess the effectiveness of anti-theft devices.
Any protection is better than no protection.
Despite the many crime prevention tips that have been passed to our communities on how to stop vehicle theft, a gulf exists between what the average person knows about crime prevention and what they practice. However, even knowing that, the Baltimore Regional Auto Theft Team's study found that few clubs were defeated, almost all were unlocked and left laying on the car's floor. Other programs also exist at low cost. The national Watch Your Car program is free to join and allows law enforcement to stop your car during the theft prevalent nighttime hours between 1 and 5 a.m. Finally, a full quarter of the stolen vehicles in Baltimore were taken with keys in the ignition.