Chances are you’ve heard the song “My Favorite Things” from “The Sound of Music.”
Well, the Lexington Police Department is hoping you have, since they performed a parody called “My Stolen Things”, to help prevent vehicle break-ins. In the video, nine members of the department are warning citizens to lock car doors and keep valuables at home or in the trunk. The song lists items that have been reported as stolen.
Officer Rebecca Saylor said this time of year there’s an uptick in the number of calls where someone’s car has items stolen from it?. “It happens in public places, shopping centers, parks, but it also happens in people’s residences like just right out of their driveways,” said Saylor.
This video is just to alert the public, said financial crimes detective, Jerrell Strong. It’s a creative way, he said, of getting the job done. “A lot of my investigations come from these car break-ins where folks have left their wallets and credit cards in the vehicle,” said Strong.
Police departments in several states including Utah, California, and Texas shared the video. Marengo, Illinois Patrol Officer Andrew Kjellgren said the video is a catchy way to grab the citizens’ attention. “It catches your attention but it highlights the issue of leaving your vehicles unlocked and leaving valuables in there. Because big cities ,small towns, everyone deals with that sort of property crime,” said Kjellgren.
The Lexington Police Department’s public information officer Brenna Angel said there were more than 1900 thefts from vehicles in the Lexington area in 2019.She said in November alone 55 guns were reported stolen from vehicles.
Angel manages the department’s social media and wrote the words to “My Stolen Things”. She’s always looking for creative ways to get the message about crime prevention to the public. She said the video posted on December 8th has gone viral. “ I think we combined the right message with the right tone and it just worked, “ said Angel.
One of the main takeaways from the video is not to let your favorite things become your stolen things.
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