Metro

Monday July 2, 2012

Vehicle owners urged to take extra precautions

By TAN KARR WEI
karrwei@thestar.com.my


TEN minutes — that was the time needed for two men to disable the alarm of a pick-up truck, break into it and drive off with the vehicle.

The demonstration by a security company was held to show the public the modus operandi of car thieves, as part of a vehicle theft prevention campaign organised by the Subang police headquarters.

The two men drove up behind the truck in a car and one of them disabled the car alarm from the opening above one of the tyres while the other kept watch.

All done in 10 minute s: During the demonstration by a security company, one man disabled the car alarm while his accomplice kept watch.

After the alarm was disabled, the man with the tools then picked the door lock using a flat piece of metal and screwdriver.

Selangor deputy police chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk A. Thaiveegan, who launched the campaign at the Lagoon Perdana Flats in Bandar Sunway, said car and motorcycle thefts usually happened at basement parking lots in commercial buildings.

“Motorcycle theft is rampant in high-density residential areas like flats and we want people to take extra precautions,” he said.

Thanks: SAC Thaiveegan presenting a certificate of appreciation to Joe, who is also a committee member of the Subang Jaya SS17 police station community policing team.

During a presentation to residents’ representatives from the Sunway and Subang Jaya area, ASP Gunalan Muniandy from the Bukit Aman crime intelligence unit (D4) said some of the theft prevention methods that vehicle owners could carry out included ensuring cars were securely locked, installing a good alarm system, using a steering or gear lock, sandblasting the car registration number onto all four windows, parking in well-lit places and not handing over car keys to unfamiliar car jockeys.

From Jan 1 to May 31 this year, 20,947 motorcycles, 6,443 cars and 1,560 lorries and vans were stolen.

Gunalan also talked about the various methods used by car thieves. Some of the more common ones include the use of metal rods and screwdrivers to pry open the side of the door, breaking the door handle to unlock the car door, using a crowbar and drilling a hole into the side of the car.

He said some of the more sophisticated gadgets used were frequency detectors to scan for car alarms and signal jammers to neutralise frequencies transmitted by GPS trackers installed in cars.

SAC Thaiveegan also presented certificates of appreciation to representatives from residents’ associations and community leaders from around the area for their involvement in community policing.

Among them were Joe Mahinder Singh from SS14, who is also a committee member of the Subang Jaya SS17 police station community policing team.

“I hope this will motivate more residents to participate in community policing. We need to work together with the police to make our neighbourhoods a safer place to live in,” he said.

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