Evening star., 1928-04-15
BY JOSEPH A. FOX.


Carelessness Is the besetting sin of
the Washington motorist. Doubters
seeking verification are invited to COM
municate with Detective Sergt. Joseph
A. Connors. head of the automobile
squad of the Metropolitan Police De-
partment, who has spent the last IL
whose job, incidentally, shows no signs
of petering out
The carelesSness of which Connors
speaks Is not that which endangers life
and limb, but that sort which causes
the owners of motor vehicles to leave
them easy prey for the unscrupulous.
Some we'll filled card-index cases at
headquarters bear him out.
Connors organized the automobile
squad In the regime Of the late Maj.
Raymond w. Pullman, superintendent
of police. At that time the total We
hicle registration in the District of Co
lumbia was about $4,000. and thefts
ran around $50 yearly.
Thefts Reach Big Total.
Today the registration has, In round
numbers doubled and the annual thefts
have reached the astounding total Of
3,400 to $500, which means an in
crease Of something like 1000 per cent
In the past decade.
And there's just one underlying cause,
according to ConnorS-carelesSneS OF
the owners in failing to take the SIM
pie precautions that mean the differ
ence between stepping outside and driv-
ing away or stepping out and then beat
ing a hurried retreat to the telephone
to seek police assistance IN running
down a stolen car.
Like every other rule, this doesn't hold
good always but there are few excep-
tions, and here's the explanation that
Connors gives:
washington is not troubled with au-
tomobile thieves, as that terms Is gen.
orally understood" he explains. II
mean by that the organized gangs
which go into car stealing on whole
sale basis and sell their plunder. It
might be said in this connection, too.
that there Is little or no defense against
this class except to catch them dead to
rights and put them away for your real
automobile thief is a specialist. just
like any other professional lawbreaker.
| who'll get car If he wants it, no mat
ter what precautions for security are
taken. He's equipped for just that line.
Joy-riders Make Problem.
"Our problem here is in dealing with
the individual the law classes as a joy
| rider He-and sometimes she-1ust
goes out with the intention of picking
up any car available to provide trans
portation, and the search Is almost ceY-
tain to be successful, owners making 1t
mighty easy for these one way or an
other.
Observance of two obvious precau-
/ tionary measures would put an awful
crimp in the So-called 'joy-riding, and
IL is because drivers fail to take these
steps that conditions are what they are.
FIRST, when parking and leaving a
car, the ignition should always be cut
of and the key removed: and this goes
whether you're going to be gone two
minutes or two hours.
Second, when the car Is left for any
length OF time, the doors and windows
should be fastened securely. for the JOY
rider isn't going to take time to force
an entrance. He knows he'll be able
to run into a car somewhere that
doesn't require so much effort to ac-
qutre.
Use Other Protection.
'Tt should not be any trouble to re
member these rules. and they Just about
cover everything. It goes without say
ing. of course, that II car. whether
open or closed model. Is equipped with
other protective measures they should
be used as q further safeguard.
when person has anywhere from
$500 to $4,000 tied UP In car. you'd
think they would watch these things.
and If they did. there would be little
margin left for the thief: but we find
that Just the opposite condition actually
prevails.
The first thing We ask when car
is reported gone is whether 1t was
locked. and the answer is usually an
emphatic yes. In the end we're as
liable as not to find out that the key
was left In the ignition. or that only
the coasting switch was used as q cut
of: that doors and windows were left
unsecureds in short, that the owner
might as well have put sign on the
car inviting any one to drive 1t away.
Our records show that at least 90
per cent OF the thefts here are charge
able to ioy-riders: so this makes the cost
Of carelessneSS come pretty high when