Vermont State Police have implemented a project to raise awareness about car break-ins at state parks and other outdoor recreation areas. Troopers at the Williston barracks will check vehicles and place a card on the driver’s side window if there are valuables in plain sight. Corporal Andrew Leise, who is leading the Williston barracks on the project, says it’s an effort to raise awareness amid an increase in break-ins.
“The reason that we started the project is last year we’ve had approximately 190 theft cases regarding break-ins as well as burglaries in our area that we cover, which is Chittenden County, some of the towns and also Lamoille County. So we did see a high number of car break-ins the past two years and this is one of the things we’re doing to try and mitigate those ongoing issues because of the heroin and opiate addiction issues and crisis in Vermont.”
The cards include the Vermont State Police emblem and state “Car break-ins have occurred in this lot. Please do not leave valuables in plain view.” Troopers will leave them on driver’s side windows if valuables are in plain sight from outside the vehicle.
