# Your reaction to cops "helpfully" locking your car door? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 22, 2021, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-reaction-to-cops-helpfully-locking-your-car-door/951133 "2021-09-22T19:55:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-reaction-to-cops-helpfully-locking-your-car-door/951133/81 "2021-09-23T17:39:28Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I don’t know what’s happening where you all live but in my 20 plus years of experience when your window gets busted in it’s when you pissed someone off. What is very common is someone going through a neighborhood in the middle of the night and tossing the interiors of the cars. The rule here in Chicago is to definitely lock your car door. I have had my window busted out once and they ran off with my shitty $50 at-the-time (1997) Radio Shack Realistic brand car stereo. Dumb fucks. That has to have next to no resale value. Generally – and I’ve seen this in action – thieves just go quickly from car to car and check doors; it is unusual to smash windows unless they truly don’t give a fuck about being inconspicuous and are doing a quick grab and go. All the other times I’ve been rummaged through (3 times), it’s been because either I forgot to lock the car, a passenger didn’t lock their door (in a car without automatic locks), or somebody I had move my car didn’t lock the door. I’m assuming there have been many instances in which a thief has simply moved on to another car after testing mine, or I’m simply really unlucky that thieves happen to find my car when it’s unlocked. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-reaction-to-cops-helpfully-locking-your-car-door/951133/82 "2021-09-23T17:39:42Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised that some use it as a pretext to _plant_ contraband so they can follow it up with a bust. Believe it or not, there _are_ bad cops out there. There’s a [whole thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531) if you need to see some examples. Not to turn this into another cop-bashing thread but I could see a few rogue officers doing something like this – or even stealing something in your car. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-reaction-to-cops-helpfully-locking-your-car-door/951133/83 "2021-09-23T17:47:43Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > t really does seem like they’re just begging for an illegal search and seizure case. With so many people having doorbell cameras, dash cameras, cell phone cameras etc. It won’t take long before someone gets pulled over 20 feet away from their house and the cop, almost magically, finds something illegal in their car (not that they planted it, just that they knew where it was) and someone produces a video of the cop going through the car in the middle of the night. Even better if he says something stupid to his partner out loud like ‘Look, I found a bag of weed, I’m gonna make sure to pull this guy over in the morning’. Huge difference between checking a door car handle versus going inside the vehicle and searching it. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-reaction-to-cops-helpfully-locking-your-car-door/951133/84 "2021-09-23T17:54:46Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > I guarantee they are attempting to proactively stop wasting their time > > While I understand what you mean by that statement. I’d argue that police dealing with cars getting stolen or rifled through is hardly a waste of time. It’s what you signed up for, it’s, at least in part, why they exist. > A few days ago there was multiple bomb threats and some of the schools around here. In one of the letters from the school, there was an implication that this was a huge waste of police, sheriff and FBI time and resources (though they did make 4 arrests). Again, I understand that, from the POV of the bomb threats being hoaxes, sure it’s a waste of resources. But until you know it’s a hoax, it’s not a waste of resources. For example, the bomb squad and bomb sniffing dogs are there specifically to find out if the threat is real or not. The fact that no bombs were found didn’t make it a waste of time. > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > When I have heard of similar things happening it’s because the police are being slammed with calls of car burglaries and car thefts that could easily be prevented by just locking their doors. I know it’s hard to believe but most people are not as easy going about people rifling through their cars to steal things and actually make police reports. > > And how much more swamped would you be if half those calls turned out to the the police checking doors. If I see someone walking down the street attempting to open car doors, I’m going to call the police, not check to see if it’s the police. > > What if the police put out PSAs to remind people to lock their car doors or otherwise do what they can to prevent break-ins? What if they put up extra patrols in areas with problems? There’s a few areas by me that people can almost count on their cars getting broken into on a daily basis. So much so that people sit on their balconies with cell phones recording it on a nightly basis and posting it to facebook. And, FWIW, this is a middle-upper class, mostly white, neighborhood, so extra patrols aren’t going to cause racism issues (ie it’s not sending extra squads to the ‘bad’ neighborhoods). I’ll put this upfront to be clear. I think it’s a bad idea and I would be pissed if they tried to do this at work. What you suggest is exactly what we do when there is an issue like this that comes up. We increase patrols and try to get the word out through social media. But yes it’s a waste of time. Sometimes we have had 15 reports or more in a night for the same thing. That will take at least one officer off the road for an extended period of time. All for crimes that have almost no chance of being solved and could have easily be avoided. Preventing the crime is better than chasing reports. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-reaction-to-cops-helpfully-locking-your-car-door/951133/85 "2021-09-23T18:17:50Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > Point taken but I think you messed up how you were quoting messages there FWIW Moderating: Yup, other post was meant to be: > [@Joey\_P](#): > > Do you have some kind of issue with me? Why are you annoyed that my posts is, by your standards, lower quality? You asked for evidence, I provided said evidence. If it’s not up to your standards, ignore it or tell us what you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-reaction-to-cops-helpfully-locking-your-car-door/951133/86 "2021-09-23T18:32:08Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I’ll put this upfront to be clear. I think it’s a bad idea and I would be pissed if they tried to do this at work. What you suggest is exactly what we do when there is an issue like this that comes up. We increase patrols and try to get the word out through social media. > > But yes it’s a waste of time. Sometimes we have had 15 reports or more in a night for the same thing. That will take at least one officer off the road for an extended period of time. All for crimes that have almost no chance of being solved and could have easily be avoided. Preventing the crime is better than chasing reports. I 100% agree with this. It’s essentially what I was trying to say. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-reaction-to-cops-helpfully-locking-your-car-door/951133/87 "2021-09-23T18:39:52Z")
No, just no. Absolutely not. 1. If I left my keys in the car, then they just locked me out of my car. Thanks, assholes. 2. I _always_ leave my car unlocked to deter window-smashing. No valuables inside, but thanks for getting my windows smashed, assholes. 3. And if they happened to trigger the alarm? I’m sure they’ll scram and play innocent. 4. Last but not least, if you don’t have a warrant, stay out of my fucking car. 4th amendment, assholes. I don’t think for a minute that these guys were trying to be helpful. I suspect that, best case, they were trying to cut down on theft complaints that they’d have to respond to, and worse case, they’re snooping for trouble and using “just locking up for ya” as a cover. Police shouldn’t infringe my rights in order to make their jobs easier. Being a law-abiding citizen should be easy, and sometimes that will make policing hard. So be it. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-reaction-to-cops-helpfully-locking-your-car-door/951133/88 "2021-09-23T18:50:25Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I think the “leave them unlocked to protect your windows” crowd is in the wrong as a matter of risk assessment. You’re wrong. I used to live in an iffy place with street parking. I got my window busted and the interior sacked soon after I moved in. As expected, the cops made a report and I never heard from them again. Same thing happened again, cops useless once again. I started leaving my car unlocked and empty. The car still got rifled through fairly often after midnight. I could tell by the dust on the handle being disturbed, and non-valuable contents inside being moved around. But at least I didn’t have the inconvenience and expense of having to replace windows. > [@Loach](#): > > I don’t know what’s happening where you all live but in my 20 plus years of experience when your window gets busted in it’s when you pissed someone off. A cop blaming the victim, what are the odds. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-reaction-to-cops-helpfully-locking-your-car-door/951133/89 "2021-09-23T18:52:23Z")
No, you are wrong. I’ve kept my car doors locked for 45 years, have never had a window broken. See how anecdotes work? ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-reaction-to-cops-helpfully-locking-your-car-door/951133/90 "2021-09-23T18:56:23Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > I don’t know what’s happening where you all live but in my 20 plus years of experience when your window gets busted in it’s when you pissed someone off. > > A cop blaming the victim, what are the odds. I really don’t think that’s what Loach was saying there. More like busting windows is more often a crime of revenge than a crime of opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-reaction-to-cops-helpfully-locking-your-car-door/951133/91 "2021-09-23T18:57:02Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > They could likely come up with a phone number or address for the car, based on it’s plate or VIN and, if convenient, make contact with the owner. AFAIK\< IIRC, that data does not include phone number, but yes, mailing address. I lock my doors. Got my window broken just once- in a bad area, I had visible small change. One time I didn’t lock my door, I had small but annoying things stolen. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-reaction-to-cops-helpfully-locking-your-car-door/951133/92 "2021-09-23T18:57:45Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > No, you are wrong. I’ve kept my car doors locked for 45 years, have never had a window broken. See how anecdotes work? You made a generalization (free of evidence, naturally) that people who leave their doors unlocked are just bad at assessing risk. I provided a concrete counterexample to that generalization, demonstrating it to be invalid. That’s how anecdotes and generalizations work. Glad I could help. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-reaction-to-cops-helpfully-locking-your-car-door/951133/93 "2021-09-23T18:59:23Z")
And I provided an example showing your example was invalid, as I have stored many thousands of dollars in valuables in my cars for 45 years and never lost a single dollar thanks to door locks. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-reaction-to-cops-helpfully-locking-your-car-door/951133/94 "2021-09-23T19:03:26Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > And I provided an example showing your example was invalid, as I have stored many thousands of dollars in valuables in my cars for 45 years and never lost a single dollar thanks to door locks. What do you mean “invalid”? Are you suggesting I’m lying? Please go into the details of exactly how your anecdote invalidates my anecdote. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-reaction-to-cops-helpfully-locking-your-car-door/951133/95 "2021-09-23T19:08:55Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > > [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > > > And I provided an example showing your example was invalid, as I have stored many thousands of dollars in valuables in my cars for 45 years and never lost a single dollar thanks to door locks. > > What do you mean “invalid”? Are you suggesting I’m lying? Please go into the details of exactly how your anecdote invalidates my anecdote. Maybe first you should explain how your anecdote invalidates my original statement: > [@](#): > > I think the “leave them unlocked to protect your windows” crowd is in the wrong as a matter of risk assessment. Your anecdote would be akin to me saying “People who don’t get covid vaccines are making bad risk assessments” and rebutting it with “I did not get vaccinated for covid, and when I got covid it was asymptomatic and cleared without issue; but I have a friend who was vaccinated from covid and died, therefore the people claiming vaccination is the better bet are invalid.” The experience of one person, in which you _might_ be net-ahead in life on broken windows if you never locked your car, does not change the fundamental risk assessment as a rule, unless you believe your experience to be a universal axiom. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-reaction-to-cops-helpfully-locking-your-car-door/951133/96 "2021-09-23T19:11:19Z")
I would be mightily pissed if cops locked my car door without my consent, especially since I’m the kind of person who sometimes leaves my keys in there. That’s got to violate some sort of private-property law or whatnot. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-reaction-to-cops-helpfully-locking-your-car-door/951133/97 "2021-09-23T19:14:57Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > Maybe first you should explain how your anecdote invalidates my original statement: Your original statement is a generalization with _nothing whatsoever_ offered to support it. No data, no cite, no evidence, no nothing. It’s an opinion. An anecdote is enough… no, it’s actually _more than enough_ to refute an unsubstantiated generalization like that. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-reaction-to-cops-helpfully-locking-your-car-door/951133/98 "2021-09-23T19:23:34Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > Maybe first you should explain how your anecdote invalidates my original statement: > > > [@](#): > > > > I think the “leave them unlocked to protect your windows” crowd is in the wrong as a matter of risk assessment. Here, let me help. You are claiming that in every situation, you are better off with locked doors. HMS\_Irruncible has given evidence that in one place he lived, he was better off with unlocked doors. I believe that the best (lowest risk) choice varies, depending on where you are leaving your car. In my garage it is best to leave the car unlocked, as it protects me against having to rummage around looking for the key when i want something i left in the car. My garage, despite being unlocked, is a very low risk area. In some higher-risk areas, like my friend’s driveway, in the city, where i parked last night, the optimal choice is to lock the car. The population density is high, and it’s unlikely a casual thief would want to draw attention to themselves by breaking my windows. And i didn’t leave anything that looked like it was worth stealing in the car. But in higher risk areas, especially if there are things in the car that look like they might be valuable, but aren’t, it’s safest to leave the car unlocked. And HMS\_Irruncible gave an example of a place he lived that fell into the last category. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-reaction-to-cops-helpfully-locking-your-car-door/951133/99 "2021-09-23T19:29:54Z")
The “because I left it unlocked on purpose” objection is pretty low on my list of reasons I don’t want the police messing with my car without my permission. It’s like objecting to the police entering your house without a warrant because they might get mud on the carpet. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-reaction-to-cops-helpfully-locking-your-car-door/951133/100 "2021-09-23T19:36:20Z")
It’s not just checking the door handle, it is locking the door as well. This requires a bit more intrusion into the car. In my car, the button to lock the doors is in the center of the console. If someone was that far into my car, they’d very well see anything I didn’t want them to see, or be able to put anything I didn’t want to have. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-reaction-to-cops-helpfully-locking-your-car-door/951133.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-reaction-to-cops-helpfully-locking-your-car-door/951133.md?page=6)