News you might be able to use

This week I learned of someone's car being stolen from the a dealer's lot after having been dropped off for service. 

(I do not know the victim, but I know the victim's roommate.) 

It is common practice for there to be a drop box for keys so you don't have to drop the car off during service hours. Not having your car is inconvenient, and that is a way of making things more convenient.

This drop box was emptied of all of the keys overnight.

This is apparently a new thing: drop boxes are being emptied or raided or removed, and lots of cars are being taken this way.

This does of course lead to an even greater inconvenience, which can be exacerbated by risks of home robbery if you left your garage door opener in the car, or identity theft if you left your registration.

We were appalled and upset on behalf of one person that got their car stolen, but the conversation with the police made it sound like a trend. They also made it sound like because it is property crime that the city (Beaverton) would probably not be pursuing it, but that Washington County might.

The reason I am writing about it is because then there was this comment in the conversation, "And you don't hear anything about it on the news."

That seems like good information to have. If nothing else, businesses should be notified and maybe post signs advising that people shouldn't drop their keys off, or so they secure the drop boxes better, or hire night security.

It could make a good news story for consumer protection: don't leave your registration in the glove box! Don't leave your garage door opener in the car. Maybe don't leave the door between your garage and your house unlocked. Maybe -- no matter how inconvenient it is -- find a way to drop off your car during business hours.

I have not watched much local news for a while, so I was not sure if it wasn't being mentioned. 

Searches weren't too encouraging. There was nothing on that method.

The top results were a story about a car thief who found a child in the back seat, so came back and lectured the mother. Seriously, it's like that's the only car theft story that anyone cares about.

I did also find a story through KGW about Portland mayor Ted Wheeler creating a task force, and the cops were going to work with cancer doctors at OHSU to understand tracking. (Frankly, I am not sure that knowledge will correspond, but okay.) I also did find some articles about dealer thefts, but those were all about forcing locks. There was one about key thefts, but that was about the keys for the cars for sale being stolen, and not the cars. (That sounds more like a really annoying, expensive prank.)

Now, there is always the possibility that the issue was misrepresented by the police, in terms of how common it is, or how likely to be pursued; they will tend to spin things in a way that facilitates budget increases.

That is all the more reason that you need a press that questions and reports. It does not feel like we have one.

I had been thinking about that more for national issues, but your backyard matters too.

Anyway, if you are getting your car worked on, careful with that drop off.