The Eugene Police are working to decrease auto thefts with a new prevention program.
It’s called the Combat Auto Theft program, or CAT. Residents who normally don’t drive between 1 and 5 AM can volunteer to receive a sticker to place in their rear window. The sticker allows police to pull the car over during those hours to confirm that the driver is the owner. Program Manager Debbie Janecek says cars are often stolen at night, and the owners don’t realize it till the morning.
Janecek – “You know you wake up the next day, that car could be out on the street for hours, and we wouldn’t know about it. So this is just a program that allows us to pull a car over during those hours just to investigate why it’s being driven.”
She says thieves often target cars for what is visible inside them, and recommends cleaning out or hiding those things. E-P-D also runs a Club program, selling the wheel lock at cost as a cheap, effective deterrent.