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Lancaster Sheriff’s Station issues tips to combat car thefts

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[Image via LASD]
The Lancaster Sheriff’s Station continues to see an increase in car thefts, with the most commonly stolen vehicles being Kias, Hyundai Sonatas, Chevy Silverados and older model Hondas, officials announced this week.

As local detectives work to identify serial offenders, they’re encouraging local residents to follow these safety tips:

— Always lock your car. Check to make sure all doors and the trunk are locked and secured.

— Use an anti-theft device such as a club. Older model Honda sedans have ignition systems that can be easily tampered with. A device such as a club or steering wheel lock serve as a great visual deterrent.

— Never leave the key fob in the car.

— Never leave your car running, even just for one moment.

— Park in well lit areas.

Residents are advised to stay vigilant and take a few extra moments secure their vehicles to ensure they don’t become the next victim of a crime.

[Information via news release from the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station.]

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41 comments for "Lancaster Sheriff’s Station issues tips to combat car thefts"

  2. Elder got my vote

    “This is a message from Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters. Your ballot for the September 14, 2021, Gubernatorial Recall Election was received and counted. Thank you for voting! “

  3. it’s only going to get worse nationally and locally. Those that are inclined to break the law are emboldened when there is no regard for the law or law enforcement. A foretaste of anarchy is happening in San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, BLM movement, Capitol insurrection, etc.

    • Maybe law enforcement should have thought of that before they flushed their credibility down the nearest toilet.

      • Well, Tim, We’re all going to pay for the total disregard of law enforcement. Too many people feel just like you. I know you justify violence when it suits your cause.

        • I couldn’t give a rip about “respect of law enforcement,” tis true. I subscribe to the words of Aristotle:

          “I have gained this from philosophy: that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law.”

          If you are a person who believes “without law enforcement we are all gonna just steal cars,” it says a lot…about you.

          As to “justifying violence when it suits my cause”…sure. I came of age in a branch of the military that was tasked with END LIFE ON EARTH IF CALLED UPON. You think I’m gonna quail when a just cause calls for violence? But I have, in fact, spent most of my adult life examining questions of JUSTICE, because yes once you have been in that ‘end all life’ position and know you have it in you it is very much prudent to get a firm grip on real justice.

          We’d all be better off if MORE people followed that course, not less.

          • If there is anything that I could agree with you… it would be that it’s a good idea to examine questions of justice and the future consequences if disregarded.

  4. If we had a decent DA and stiffer punishment for crimes we would not have to be so concerned about our vehicles being stolen.

    • What’s the sentence for GTA, typically, and what do you think it should be?

      Okay.

      That was a dirty play since I am pretty sure you won’t know. I just wanted to demonstrate how the general public has been brainwashed into “longer sentences are the solution.” They really aren’t, unless you make them long enough that no one lives long enough to get released.

      I am more than willing to participate in intelligent discussions of how to actually prevent/discourage crime, with anyone who can get past the knee jerk responses.

      • For discussions sake on how to prevent/discourage crime, we must first identify why individuals commit these crimes in the first place. Is it their upbringing? Is it poverty? Maybe it’s because they are too lazy to actually work for things and just find it easier to steal.

        In the case of GTA, I wonder what the true stats are for what happens to every car ever stolen. Sure some are found and returned, and some were stolen for a joyride. Without knowing true facts I think some are stolen and then sold for parts, because again its easier/faster to get a quick buck. The second thing is that there is clearly a market for it otherwise there would be no money to be made doing it.

        So I would say once you can identify the cause you can find proactive solutions that would help prevent the crime in the first place. Education and quality jobs is a great proactive solution. If you give people the tools to success then they are more likely to succeed. With education, we need to find ways to actually get kids to want to learn more and get them to truly understand what life is. With jobs, giving someone the chance to really earn a living without have to have 2-4 jobs or work 15 hours a day just to survive would also give people more ambition to go to work. That in turn creates a better environment at home which will continue to next generations.

        However no matter how good you can make it for everyone there will always be those how refuse and would still commit the crime anyway. Jealously of what others have that they don’t will lead to crime in any form. So then this leads to how you punish said crime. If you cannot educate them well enough to know why they shouldn’t commit a crime then you must create something they fear to prevent said crime. Religion gave some both values and fear but as education increases religion decreases. So that leads us back to if education isn’t a option then fear of punishment must also be the second.

        The issues we have today is many criminals don’t fear jail/prison. To them and their culture it can even be a right of passage. So how can you strike fear in those who appear to fear nothing? I have my thoughts that are definitely not perfect and will even conflict with each other, but Tim I’m curious as to what punishment you feel would prevent crime? The right thing is education and opportunity, but we must also have punishment. So again I ask, what do you feel is a proper evaluation of punishment that strikes enough fear to prevent a crime?

        • Well, the assumption “we must have punishment,” I have to ask…is that based in deterrence, or retribution? I ask that because you seem like a level headed individual that will genuinely ponder the question. Every “we gotta make jail worse so they FEAR it” argument breaks on the rocks of “the more fearsome you make it the more dangerous those who survive it will be when they are released.” You put someone in prison for five years, no matter what the conditions, you have already more or less guaranteed that they are unfit for ‘normal’ society.

          The very dumbest thing we do in terms of criminal ‘justice’ is send young people to what is commonly called ‘gladiator school’ so they can finish growing up in a ‘fight or die’ environment and get kicked loose at twenty-five with no skills but violence to draw on. I use that example because it is so obvious, but ultimately the only difference with older offenders is just the amount of time we have to deal with them after release is shorter.

          So, your premise has to be checked, because we can very quickly arrive at the fact that if the ‘punishment’ angle is actually supposed to accomplish anything OTHER than retribution it is an abject fail so we need to look very hard at the premise that this ‘fear of punishment’ aspect is even necessary.

          Is there really a “culture of criminality,” or did you actually list the important factors? I will concede that there are “culture pockets” where people are born into such hopeless (comparative) circumstances that criminality seems an obvious and maybe unavoidable option. When one person sees crime as an opportunity maybe ‘jealousy’ or whatever, but when you create an entire community where it is hard top fins anyone that can make a coherent argument against “but the only people who ever make a living around here are the criminals” what is the source of the “culture”? One desperate person becomes a criminal, but an entire community on the brink of despair due to oppression they cannot escape becomes a culture.

          So take this as complete support of MOST of your position here. To reduce crime, approach the sources. But I am not about the “how do we strike enough fear in their hearts” because it just doesn’t work. I can tell you from having integrated myself into a number of “cultures of criminality” that criminals NEVER think about getting caught. If it briefly crosses their mind they stop and “get their head right” because they cannot perform if they are second guessing themselves. In that respect they are like extreme athletes. Ask a race car driver how often they think about dying in a fiery crash and they will tell you “once, and that’s when I retired.”

          But the LAST people that want to hear what you are saying and I am supporting are the ADAs. They make their (very good) living prosecuting the same people, or at least people born into the same crappy circumstances, over and over and over. They have no clue about preventing crime, and even less interest. That’s why you ALWAYS will find them jabbering about “victim’s rights” and “justice for families” and such…because their bread is buttered through keeping the conversation tracking on RETRIBUTION. Cops, prosecutors, “law and order” politicians; they all feed the constant drumbeat of retribution and the intention is to keep the moderately interested public mesmerized.

          So once again, look very closely at your premise.

          • Hey thanks for the reply and what you wrote is also exactly how I feel when it come to criminal “justice”. Punishment is exactly as you said “retribution” in every aspect, because also as you said criminals never think of the consequences until after they get caught. I really liked your comparison of professional athletes because while I’m, by no means a professional, I do compete in extremely dangerous sports and I would say one thing that does hold me back is the fear of what could happen.

            To your statement about a “culture of criminality,” I do believe you did describe it well “One desperate person becomes a criminal, but an entire community on the brink of despair due to oppression they cannot escape becomes a culture.” This is how I feel “Gangs” are formed. This is also why I feel that education is so important to help those who feel trapped by this criminal culture. A great movie what displays this really well was “Freedom Writers” and how those kids who felt trapped by their lives they were born into could be educated to learn that they can escape that life they thought was their only option.

            The only issue with society itself though is that it is so ingrained in human culture that there must be a punishment for a crime that the odds of it ever being solved is not likely. Retribution will always be a desire of those wronged. Even when the individual wronged has forgiven the “criminal” society itself can become the individual wronged. A great example was a friend of mine had an incident with a family member that didn’t end the best, and although all was forgiven within that family “society” still brought charges against the family member. Now this is very well just a select few that continued on for charges, but it was still the people vs this person. I mean just look at how these comment sections blow up sometimes when criminal activity is reported.

            To those educated all punishments are seen as deterrents, but as you said and I agree with criminals don’t think that way. Society as a whole doesn’t think that way either which is why we have punishments for retribution.

            I ask you how do you think we fix this besides building a new culture of education and “equal” opportunity? I know of many people that feel the only other solution is to purge these people from the society that they do not wish to be apart of, kind of how Australia was made “white”, or straight up death. Neither of which I agree with but can understand.

          • One thing I will add to that though is how you classify “Criminals”. Ex. someone who does drugs is someone I wouldn’t classify as a criminal, but someone who would do harm onto others, definitely. But this is another issue with the justice system in its own right for who you classify as a “Criminal”. This definitely is not a black and white issue and is 100% grey.

          • I’m not going to go too far into this discussion beyond noting that all of this has been discussed before… a few hundred years ago in a treatise called, “Of Crimes and Punishments” by Cesare Beccaria. It’s free to read and I highly suggest doing so as it had a major influence on the setting up of our criminal justice system at the inception of our country. Here’s a link:

            Now, that offered, please allow me to point out that the harshness of the punishment holds very little weight in the calculations of considering a crime. What does? The certainty of apprehension. Let me give you a hypothetical example:

            Let’s say that our state government were to suddenly announce that there have been some major changes to the traffic laws and the enforcement thereof. Namely, they don’t have as much of a budget for enforcement anymore, so they are making typical speeding a felony offense with a mandatory sentence of 5 years in prison… BUT, since they can’t afford many cops, your chances of getting caught are about 1 in 30… Do you believe that speeding would stop? Or even slow down (no pun intended)?
            Okay, let’s try it the other way: The government has found an incredible surplus of money and suddenly announces that speeding remains the same offense that it is now – in fact fines have been reduced about 25%… BUT, that same new influx of income means that they have been able to beef up law enforcement beyond belief and your chances of getting caught are now 90% likely! Would you take that chance? Neither would I.

            So, there you go. Harsh punishments are for political theater: politicians want to look like they are ‘doing something’ about crime when they are most definitely not. If the DID want to fix it, they would concentrate on prevention first, then effective enforcement and processing, then recovery of both the victim and perpetrator back into the social contract as intact as can be made after a crime occurs. This all ain’t new (see my opening paragraph on that). They’ve known this a loooong time.

            Our criminal justice system has become less about stopping crime and more about punishment. This is ineffective in the long run and, indeed, likely to bankrupt us.

          • If it weren’t for the fear of law and going to jail then people would be breaking the gta law like if it’s a dumb video game. It still doesn’t deter certain people from breaking the law again once released but it makes many think twice and feel discouraged from doing so. If it was about retributions then alot of car thieves would be missing their gas foot or hand thats used to steer. Ive yet to hear about anyone in jail getting a limb cut off by a deputy for theft. This country gives these people a chance to educate themselves and stay fit while locked up though others choose the gladiator lifestyle that many unfortunately already impose outside of jail. There’s a place for them that deters them from breaking the law again and if they are there for long enough then they won’t wanna do it again once released. That don’t seem like retribution. But the knuckleheads that don’t wanna learn eventually face retribution in the gladiator world that they made for themselves.

          • Count on Alby.

            Tell me, how is it that someone like you, who obviously would be a temptation very hard to resist for these “wanton criminals”…like as soon as you start talking they are gonna want to slit your throat, right?…so how is it that you know so many of them personally and have all this insight into what they are thinking, what their motivations are, and all the other deep inside info you claim to have?

            Or are you just exactly what I was talking about…a retribution junkie looking for a fix that gets you off, rather than a fix for the problems?

          • How wanton you are determines how bad your cheeks burn. I’m sure that a throat cutter is gonna do way more time than a gta suspect. “Deterrence.” Who cares about figuring out someone that’ll slit your throat for you even opening your mouth. They don’t need to be figured out. They need to be locked up with the key thrown away. If it was about retribution, then the prison gaurds would lie them on a table forcefully and slit their throat in equal exchange for their doing. As for gta suspects, like any other theft crimes, its about selfishness, laziness to work and buy their own and living life on the edge as they take what’s yours. It’s up to them to realize what they are thinking and what their motivations should be when they finally get out of jail otherwise they’ll repeat the same motions and be deterred from society longer than before. How is that not a fix for the problem? Or should we hire a bunch of Nannas to scold them as they roam free in a gta, throat slashing ect. society.

          • Apparently that went so far over your head that if it hadn’t had your name in it you probably would have missed it entirely.

            Moving right along…

          • Perhaps this news website is an outlet that’s deterring you from doing god knows what at such wanton pace. And no more playing with knives mister.

      • To Tim & Derrick,

        I am an outsider listening in on your conversation and cheering! It is so very refreshing to see true dialogue happening rather than the usual aggressive name calling, trolling and belittling which usually happens on these comment pages. So delighted to see this and thanking you both for keeping discourse respectful and compassionate.

        • Well, I did just slam Alby, but as always he showed no interest in any actual conversation. I am pretty much a mirror and reflect people back at themselves in kind.

          Speaking of which, thank you for your comment.

          • No, you “deterred” and are now speaking about me in 3rd person. That’s quite a grand slam. That was a real pile drive. I’ll bet you feel capable of “retribution” now? But it’s you we’re talking about. You’ll justify scumbags dumping trash all over this town and its our fault for not giving them free housing. You probably justify throat slashers because people would even dare open their mouths. So god knows what you’ll justify now with such wantonton fashion.

          • When I talk to someone else about you, as I did here, yes I refer to you by name. That’s called proper English. You should try it sometime. There are coaches.

            As to your commentary, it is becoming obvious that you don’t understand English any better than you type it, so let’s try this again.

            These criminals that you talk about; embodiments of purest evil, driven not by circumstance or survival but just their inherent moral inferiority to the righteous citizen you present yourself as; if you actually spoke to such people presumably your self righteousness would drive them pretty much immediately into a killing frenzy.

            So we can conclude that at least one of two things is true and perhaps both.

            One, there really are no such people and criminals are driven more by the basic needs of survival and can’t be bothered with your self righteous arrogance other than scoffing at you and mocking you.

            Two, despite your very persistent pretense about knowing how criminals think you have never actually spoken to one and are just typing out your butt, hoping that your authoritarian ‘I know all about it’ presentation will add some undeserved credibility to your ideas.

            Which is it?

          • Perhaps you should try talking to some of them behind bars or in their secured outdoor environment. Have a meal and some pruno with them and determine for yourself if they’re going through a deterrence or facing retribution. Ask them if their crime was an act of deterrence or an act of retribution. Ask them what self righteousness is. You might find that you are that embodiment of pure self righteousness that actually prefers retribution over deterrence. You could even be their english coach if you hear them scream “wanton” or “hiawatha” wrong in the middle of a lonely night. If you want to figure them out and why they do what they do that’s great, just keep it behind bars where they are deterred from normal civilization. Who knows, you might be that mirror that reflects back at them while you’re getting slammed.

          • How did we switch from your qualifications to comment on “the criminal mind” to my own? Could it be deflection because you don’t know jack, got called on it accurately, and now you are throwing out some words you picked up from movies like “pruno” and trying to reverse the deal?

            Come on Alby. You talk a big game about your deep knowledge of what makes criminals tick. Put up your resume. Prison shrink? Lame ass prison guard? Have a family member doing time? Or just totally blowing smoke with no actual knowledge at all?

          • Oh boy, Tim, “I am pretty much a mirror and reflect people back at themselves in kind?” May I suggest you look in the mirror, examining yourself, instead of thinking you’re the mirror. Your command of the English language doesn’t make you wise.

          • I may have learned about the birds and the bees a little bit through movies but life has a cruel way of teaching you the flowers and the trees and the criminal minds that can be mentally consuming but I deter myself from venturing that route because there is better stuff to learn that’s more productive and beneficial than criminal knowlege that could poison my mind especially when I’m at an intersection waiting for the damn light to turn green and there’s a stupid little dog barking at me. From my understanding of the criminal mind… that I’m willing to take time to understand how they tick… Ok, put seven children with only three of the coolest toys that they all like in an empty room free from any potential weapons with no parental or guardian oversight that THEY can see or sense. How long do you think peace is gonna last in that room until they start fighting over the same toys while whining and kicking and screaming at eachother and one of them eventually gets hurt and starts crying. If no parent or guardian shows up at all then how far could it go? The darn toys could eventually be used as weapons. Imagine how many of these criminals grew up lacking that parental/gaurdian oversight and learned how to get away with petty thefts and hurting people, how to be smooth talkers and back stabbers, how to be stalkers to get away with breaking into hondas and hotwiring em or stealing vital components for their own cars. There is no authority around to deter them from finishing what they started but then some self righteous a-hole walks up and starts opening his mouth about how they should be getting a job and educating themselves and quit doing that because it’s illegal and then “slash” he’s laying on the floor gushing ivory liquid from his neck while they’re casually removing more components until law suddenly shows up with guns pointed and the suspects are now adhering to authority and are being deterred from continuing their doings in society. Now they’re behind bars feeling that life isn’t fair and that they’re facing retributions and are waiting for someone like you to come in with toys and candy and an understanding heart for them and a way to make them free again in hopes that they went through a full deterrence. People actually get paid to do this but if there weren’t the financial incentives then they’d be busy holding a real job while the evil is deterred from society rotting behind bars without a care being given. Sometime you cant figure out the evils of this world but you can lock it up and keep it away.

          • So this monster of a blob of words says…no you actually have no experience of how criminals think but you have conducted experiments on children? Is that the gist?

            Why is it that with no actual experience of your own you think that I need to sit down to dinner and pruno with them to be entitled to an opinion? Are you really THAT arrogant?

          • Why is it that you need to know how pedophiles or rapists or violent sexual deviants think and what makes them tick? Are you gonna figure out some mental magic switch to just shut off their evil desire to prey and pounce on innocent helpless flesh once and for all? Very likely not, even if you went to the root of the problem thats linked to themselves being badly abused and such. If you could I would praise you like a higher power as I let my children play and roam freely outside. But nahhh. Christ, Buhda or Santa has yet to even do that. Once people have had that kind of taste for blood it is very pointless to waste tax dollars trying to figure them out and rehabilitate them unless it’s pro bono. They very much so face deterrence from this world through lethal injection otherwise they face retribution by those that hate them and want blood. As for car thieves, you have probably had casual conversations with random nobodys and coincidentally lost a few items around your house or in your car later. It has probably happened to almost everybody in this town. What is really to try to figure out from there? Go figure. But I will say in casual arrogance that based on experince of my own as a slasher and a thief that if you want to deter pedators and rapists then put a bag over every hot babes head and start slashing your own tires before the thieving vandals walk up to your car. Also, knock yourself out cold before someone attempts to slash you. Crap on your front lawn right over a sprinkler head if you think a rapist might pop out of nowhere and get you. Hell, lets just develop actual experience of our own with them outside of jail and make them scratch their heads trying to figure US out instead as we mingle in fellowship and maybe even trade places. That way either can’t judge or and then we’ll fully have ourselves figured out and why we tick. Maybe we might all work together at the lancaster sheriff station.

          • Alby do you notice how you leap from car thieves to serial rapist pedophiles as if they are the same thing?

            To be frank, I don’t care what makes a serial rapist tick either. If you look at the various “outrage over rapist release placement” articles you will find that I make enemies because I point out that if the guy was sentenced and did the sentence he HAS TO be released and the “not here not here” outcry is just making it someone else’s problem. What needs to be done with that outrage is change sentencing for the NEXT time so that we don’t have the same problems showing up twenty years from now.

            Take a “some criminals need to be locked up for life because once they have tasted that feeling of power that comes from such victimization the safety of society requires them to be supervised FOREVER” and I will back your play. Not as retribution, but as a societal safety issue.

            However, not every criminal can be locked up for life.

            Since this started out being about car theft, let’s say your car gets stolen by some joyriding teenager. That teenager may even know someone who will kick them some money for a hot car, and that’s the end of your car. Terrible inconvenience, no question.

            But in your retribution driven approach to justice you want “lock that kid up, and make the time HARD.” From a societal safety standpoint that is the WORST approach. That’s actually worse than “just turn the kid loose and hope the experience taught him something,” which is not what I am advocating by the way. Your way is the worst because there is no way you are going to push through joyriding kid gets a life sentence on “just think of all the poor cars!” grounds. So you are in fact creating a “just released from prison” individual at some point.

            Now, that just released individual is going to be VASTLY less well adjusted to social norms at that point than they were when they stole your car. You want them for a neighbor? I’m guessing no, but they are gonna be someone’s neighbor.

            So I favor focusing on something other than retribution for your inconvenience.

          • Retribution driven approach? Na, man. I gave those two their rightful place in the justice system. Its not a retribution. Stop stealing cars or its vitals or be stopped from doing so by sleepin in the hen house for long or longer times set based on your continuous doing. Stop slashing throats or face deterrence from this world though execution or else satisfy those that want retribution outside of law on the victims behalf. What has law truly shown here? (despite my dislike for some…many) It’s been deterrence even if it was aimed at me wrong. [removed] you [removed] by the way. I’m talkin to them not you. But lets think about them poor cars. Those poor cars that potentially have kids and your favorite old timers on earth inside… What would a deviant slasher deserve for taking your bestees away while messing with your car? Do they deserve an explanation before they get put away anyways? Can they be deterred from doing so again by saying “to hell with your explanation. Readjust to a secured environment away from civilization?” Yes! And they should stay there trying to figure it all out foreverrr…..

          • Great Alby. So your solution is apparently life sentences for any and all crimes, is that it?

            You do understand that that is NEVER going to happen in a little place called reality, correct?

            So since it isn’t going to happen, the results of a justice system that satisfies your bloodlust is the eventual release of people who have been turned into exactly the monsters you fear.

            So, back at my original statement, I am always willing to have a discussion on the topic, and appreciate your efforts. If you want to continue in some realistic vein I am certainly willing, and if you want to just hold the line on “lock up every offender forever, that’s my plan” then…great I guess, good luck with that.

          • I never said that though, nor do I have a blood lust. This place called reality mocks the idea of mingling with known thieves or violent people that havent paid there dues legally. A slap on the wrist and “No No No” is not gonna satify a community either.

          • Not gonna satisfy a community…that is demanding retribution. And in most cases they are demanding retribution because they have been mislead into “retribution works” and the forces that want to keep them mislead are strong.

            It’s just common sense to look at “what are we creating here, that we are eventually going to release?” as an important component, and maybe the MOST important component. Is that satisfying to the person who got their car stolen and wants a pound of flesh? Generally not. Is it satisfying to the “I hope you get bubbaed in there cuz I like thinking about forbidden violent sex acts” crowd? Not at all.

            But I prefer to look at things in terms of what gives the best shot at a good outcome.

    • I dunno FWB. Our prisons have more people than the rest of the world combined. How’s that working for ya?

      Or, maybe just more than any other country. Whatever.

      Heck. We got a prison here in Lancaster. Do you like that?

      Got any other ideas?