The El Camino Police and student body are joining forces to decrease the chances of student vehicles from being broken into. The ECPD have created the “gotcha tag” to help prevent any future break-ins.

To be proactive about the situation, the police officers carry the tags at all times. The “gotcha tag” is bright yellow with the word “GOTCHA” at the top and continues to read, “If this had been an actual ‘rip off,’ you would have been a statistic. Don’t give a thief an opportunity to rip you off.”

“I’ve never gotten one but seems like a good idea,” Roderick Wells,18, communications major said.

If an officer patrolling notices an unlocked car or a sort of valuable left in plain sight they leave the tag as well.

“It will be effective in the long run when more and more people get them,” Samantha Ruiz, 20, psychology major said.

To avoid having their car broken into, students need to be more “hyperaware” of their actions before they leave their car unattended for a duration of the day.

There are also two common precautions that distracted students should take before leaving their car.

As a habit, students need to:

-Make sure their windows are all the way up.

-Pull on the handle to make sure their car is locked.

ECPD Officer,Erica Solorzano works multiple twelve hour shifts a week.

“I find at least three or four a shift and that’s just me driving around, not actually looking,” Solorzano said. “Students need to just take that extra second to check.”

For more information, contact the Campus Police at (310) 660-3100.