“Lock your &$@?!&@ car!” Exclaims Trooper Joshua Lewis in a video produced by the Colorado State Patrol on auto theft.
From 2017 to 2021, the number of reported vehicle thefts across Colorado increased by nearly 88 percent, according to statistics by CPS. In efforts to reverse this trend which, today, continues on an upward trajectory, CPS recently adopted a new and unexpected way to reach the public with information about auto theft.
“We wanted to do something that would actually get the public’s attention and have people pay attention to the information as opposed to simply putting out a statistic or a number that they may disregard or not pay attention to,” Lewis said.
CPS’s public affairs office nominated Lewis to be the face of a three-part video series that would clue Coloradoans in on the auto theft epidemic. In each of the three videos — all of which can be found on CPS's Facebook page — Lewis, while sitting in a squad car, recounts one of CPS’s top three tips to prevent viewers from falling victim to an auto theft.
In the first video, Lewis starts off with a little game. “Quick question: do you know approximately how many auto thefts there were in Colorado in 2021?” Lewis asks the camera. After theatrically pushing several number graphics out of the screen, 37,000 is the last number to hover in front of Lewis, who points out that this number is further compounded by crimes that are often committed with stolen vehicles after the initial auto theft.
According to a press release from CPS, beyond the initial crime of stealing a vehicle, auto thieves often commit other crimes which include driving recklessly with willful disregard to other motorists, pedestrians and laws, or illegally selling the stolen vehicle just so that later, the buyer who realizes it’s stolen loses the newly purchased car, as well as the money they paid the thief for it.
Lewis concludes the first video by describing CPS’s third tip for preventing auto theft – a tip that challenges drivers to pay attention to where they park their vehicle. “Whenever possible, park your vehicle in a closed, locked garage,” Lewis said. “In public, park under lights where thieves won’t have darkness to conceal their actions. And, trust your gut — if an area seems sketchy, find a spot that feels safer.”
Lewis continues into the next two videos with the same energy and wittiness as he demonstrated in the first one.
The second video is dedicated to the second most important tip for preventing auto theft: resist the urge to remote start your vehicle and leave it unattended, Lewis explained.
Finally, the third video reveals the most important tip. “Lock your (bleep) car,” an earnest Lewis says to kick things off. Lewis is visited by a cartoon rooster who appears on screen and interrupts his impassioned statement with a “cock-a-doodle-doo” at the perfect moment.
According to statistics from the Longmont Police Department, there were 300 stolen vehicles reported in Longmont in 2019, compared to 382 in 2021. There have been 67 reported to LPD so far in 2022.
Auto theft reports in unincorporated Boulder County, Superior and Lyons have also increased within past years, according to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office. The office’s statistics reveal 47 vehicles were reported stolen from these areas in 2019, compared to 101 in 2021. So far in 2022, BCSO has seen 14 cases of auto thefts.
Although CPS, Longmont Public Safety and Boulder County Sheriff’s Office have all issued numerous press releases over the past few years to repeatedly warn people about increasing cases of auto theft, CPS finally decided they needed a method of reaching the public that wouldn’t be “so elongated or so serious that nobody would pay attention or disregard it,” Lewis said. “Hence, how the video messaging came about.”
As increasing numbers of reported auto thefts continue to sweep the entire state, CPS hopes the video series will capture people’s attention, inform them of ways they can protect against their vehicle getting stolen and, ultimately, help to reverse the trend.
“We’re trying to prevent the kind of heartache that comes along with auto theft and everything else that goes along with it,” Lewis said.
