In another example of police overreaching into the lives of innocent civilians, police in Beverly, Massachusetts are actively looking for parked vehicles with unlocked doors. If a vehicle is unlocked, the police will open the door, lock the vehicle, then shut the door. The police are also leaving warnings for the owners informing them their vehicles are easy targets for thieves. This police action has caused some problems. Some owners left their keys in their vehicles and got locked out of their own vehicles.
This police action is just one element of a larger program in which the police are warning vehicle owners to not make their vehicles targets by leaving valuables in their vehicles in plain view, leaving doors unlocked, etc. The police are going from vehicle to vehicle and leaving written warnings on any vehicles the police feel might be attractive to thieves.
Sure, this sounds like the police are just trying to be helpful, but this is a perfect example of how governments now feel the need to get involved in even the most minute details of innocent people's lives. If people are too stupid to lock their vehicles and keep their valuables out of sight, that is too bad. Those people are taking a risk. If someone steals from the vehicle, the owner will have to face the consequences of being careless. The last thing the vehicle owner needs is some busybody cop putting a sign on the vehicle that advertises to all passers-by there are valuables in the vehicle. That is just idiotic. The cops are marking the targets for thieves.
The most troubling thing is that the cops are actually opening the doors of unlocked vehicles. These vehicles are private property, and opening a private vehicle without permission or a warrant is a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment. What happens if the cop opens a vehicle and notices something suspicious that might be visible only when a vehicle door is opened? Does the cop continue snooping around in the vehicle? Does the cop make an arrest or file a report if he finds something illegal?
Also, there are some good reasons to leave a vehicle unlocked. Anyone with a convertible or soft-top jeep knows to never lock the vehicle. Thieves cut through soft-tops to get in, and the cost to replace the soft-top far exceeds the value of the items inside the vehicle. Also, people know thieves will smash windows to get into vehicles. Some vehicle owners do not keep anything valuable in their vehicles, so they leave them unlocked, hoping no one will smash a window to get inside. After all, the windows are just glass and do not provide much security. They are, however, expensive to replace.
The bottom line is this. It does not matter why people leave their vehicles unlocked. If people want to do things with their private property that may seem careless, it is not the concern of the police. Here's a fresh thought. Instead of the police wasting time checking door locks, they should be out arresting thieves. The reason we have so many vehicle break-in is because the cops are not doing their jobs and putting the thieves in jail where they belong.
