IRVINE : Police Start Program to Reduce Car Thefts

Police have embarked on a new auto-theft prevention program that gives officers permission to stop participants’ vehicles if they are spotted on the road during certain early morning hours.

People wishing to take part in the Combat Auto Theft program must bring driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations to the police station, at 1 Civic Center Plaza. Participants will sign waiver forms allowing police to pull over their cars between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m.

To identify vehicles in the program, police place a bright yellow sticker on the rear windows of participants’ cars.

Since the Combat Auto Theft program began last month, 26 residents have joined, said police Cmdr. Gene Norden.

“This is not for everyone,” Norden said. “I don’t think people who are out a lot at night would want to have one of those on their window.”

Norden said that officers who stop cars with CAT stickers will treat the situation as a possible car theft. “They are going to take more precautions when making contact with the driver,” he said. “People should be aware that (the officers) might have their guns drawn.”

Norden said the CAT program tends to be popular with older people and those who rarely drive late at night.

Irvine is one of several Orange County cities to adopt CAT, which was started eight years ago in New York City.

In 1993, 357 cars were reported stolen in Irvine, and in the first two months of this year, 120 were taken, Norden said.

CAT is free to the public. The forms and stickers are provided by the Automobile Club of Southern California.

Stolen Vehicles In the first two months of this year, 120 cars were stolen Irvine. A look at the auto-theft figures since 1989: In hundreds ‘93: 357 Source: Irvine Police Department