YORBA LINDA : Auto Decals Used as Anti-Theft Tool

City police are hoping that a little yellow sticker can help them decrease the number of auto thefts, which grew by 12% last year.

The city is participating in the Combat Auto Theft program sponsored by the Automobile Club of Southern California. The centerpiece of the program is a yellow decal placed in the rear window of a car that gives police probable cause to stop the vehicle after a designated hour.

Residents who participate in the program give police permission to stop the car to determine if the driver is the owner or has the owner’s permission to drive it. Police can stop the car between 1 and 5 a.m. solely to verify ownership.

If the car is not stolen, the driver will not be detained and no citation will be issued.

According to Lt. Bill Lentini, Yorba Linda does not have a major auto theft problem. However, the number of stolen cars increased from 139 in 1991 to 156 in 1992.

“The good news is that we had a recovery rate 28% higher last year,” Lentini said.

Last year, the Police Department recovered $803,000 worth of stolen cars, up from $671,000 worth in 1991, Lentini said.

The Combat Auto Theft decals give police another tool to recover stolen cars and could serve as a deterrent to would-be auto thieves, Lentini said. The decals are being used in the cities of Fullerton, Brea, Placentia, Anaheim and La Habra, and cars with decals can be stopped by police in those cities as well as by the California Highway Patrol.

The program was started in 1986 in New York City. In 1987, San Diego became the first city in California to offer the program, which has grown to 100 cities in Southern California.

According to Sid Munger, district manager of the Automobile Club’s Anaheim Hills office, 32,783 vehicle owners in Southern California have registered with the program since its inception. Only six of those vehicles were reported stolen, Munger said, and all six were recovered by officers who were alerted by the decal.

Residents interested in participating can sign up at the police annex station at 19381 Yorba Linda Blvd.