Keyless and Clueless

You go out to dinner, park your car in a public area, but forget to lock the doors. When you come back, a thief has opened the door and taken something valuable you left on the seat, or perhaps ripped your car stereo out.

That scenario has played out thousands of times in thousands of places. It's often followed by a call to the cops, who come out, take a report, and tell the victim, "We'll see what we can do." Then nothing more ever happens, because there's nothing the cops can do about it, and it's a waste of time and manpower for them to start hunting all over town for your briefcase, backpack, or Blaupunkt.

Bottom line: you've been ripped off because of your own carelessness. Hopefully, you'll learn from your mistake.

But if you live in the Philadelphia suburb of Upper Moreland Township, the cops are going to play nanny for you. No, they're not suddenly better at tracking down stolen merchandise. By they are considering an ordinance that would require you to lock your car when you park it in a public area, or get a ticket and face a $25 fine.

Here's one thing they've overlooked, though: won't those tickets on the windows of the unlocked cars help the thieves know which vehicles they should target?

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