Winter Springs, Fla.
Originally started by the Winter Springs Police Department in 2008 with grant funding, the ?Lock It or Lose It? crime prevention campaign was put in place with the intent of reducing the number of property crimes where the articles stolen were taken from unlocked motor vehicles.
These crimes were happening in areas ranging from local parks to public parking lots and individual residential driveways. Chief Kevin Brunelle and his officers initially set out on foot in neighborhoods to educate as many members of the public as they could on the risks associated with leaving valuables unsecured in their automobiles.
Officers handed out flyers and spoke with hundreds of residents. It worked. In the following years, thefts from motor vehicles dropped over 23 percent.
But the department isn?t done yet. The ?Lock It or Lose It? program has grown with the use of police volunteers and patrol officers continuing to hand out brochures.