Police Relaunch Program to Stop Auto Theft

Prompted by the large number of car thefts in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles Police on Monday relaunched on a wider scale an anti-auto theft program that failed three years ago in Van Nuys for lack of public participation.

Under the program, Valley motorists can place a small yellow decal on the back window of their car, as a signal to police that the owner agrees to allow officers to stop and question the driver if the car is being driven between 1 and 5 a.m., when police say most car thefts occur.

The program is based on the theory that during those hours, when the driver is more likely to be a thief than to be the car’s owner, the sticker gives officers probable cause to stop the auto, which they otherwise could not do.

The program, modeled after a similar anti-theft program started in 1986 in New York, has been tried by police in 99 other Southern California communities, including the areas patrolled by the Harbor and West Los Angeles police divisions.

If it succeeds this time in the Valley, it could be extended to the remainder of Los Angeles, said City Councilman Joel Wachs, who attended a news conference on the program along with Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky. “This program is a way for the public to get involved,” Wachs said.

Deputy Chief Mark A. Kroeker, the highest-ranking Los Angeles Police Department official in the Valley, said the success of the program is crucial because of police staffing shortages. But, he said, the key to its success is public participation.

“The timing is just right,” Kroeker said, standing before the Van Nuys police station after the news conference to kick off the program, called Combat Auto Theft, or CAT. “I think it will work if everybody participates.”

The Valley has the highest number of stolen vehicles in the city, according to police statistics. As of Nov. 14, there were 19,476 vehicles reported stolen in the Valley this year--an increase of about 1.5% from 19,186 during the same period last year, according to the statistics.

In the same period this year, 16,160 vehicles were reported stolen in the department’s Central Bureau; 12,152 in the South Bureau; and 17,530 in the West Bureau, according to statistics.

To get a decal, car owners can go to any of the Valley’s five police stations and sign a form saying they do not normally drive during the early morning hours and that police are permitted to stop the car to make sure that it is not stolen.

Police said that in effect, the sticker gives police the probable cause needed to stop a car even if nothing appears amiss. The owner also waives his constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure.

If police stop the car, and the driver is not the owner registered under the program, officers will call the owner to see if the driver has the owner’s permission to drive the car.

Although police say the program is legally sound, legal experts expressed concern last summer when the program was introduced in West Los Angeles. At the time, law professors from UCLA and USC said they questioned whether an owner could waive the rights of someone else using their car with permission.

Allan Parachini, a spokesman for the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, said his organization had not studied the issue but “plans to watch the application and performance of this program.”

Bruce Randall, director of insurance claims for the Automobile Club of Southern California, which is paying for the program’s decals and registration forms, said the program has been a success in other Southern California cities where it has been tried.

In New York City, police said that one of every 15 cars will be stolen in a year. But for cars registered under the program, the theft rate is one in 574.

After witnessing the program’s success in other cities, Los Angeles City Councilman Ernani Bernardi suggested in 1988 that police implement the program in Los Angeles, according to Bernardi’s aide, David Mays. The following year, police in the Van Nuys Division tried to begin the program, but no stickers were distributed because only 58 residents signed up, too few for the program to be effective.

City officials and police said they hope that public participation will increase this time around.

Bernardi will get sticker No. 1 from the Van Nuys Division, Kroeker said.