Berkeley PD Fights Car Burglaries With 9PM Routine Campaign

BERKELEY, NJ — It's no secret that towns throughout the area are battling a persistent scourge of vehicle break-ins. Hardly a day goes by without a spate of break-ins or police in some town reminding residents once more to lock their vehicles and keep valuables out of sight.

In Berkeley Township, police are taking a different approach and trying to remind residents every day to lock up. The #9PMRoutine has been rolling on the police department's Facebook page nightly since early December, mixing humor and pop culture to drive home one message: Lock up.

The person responsible for the posts hasn't been named, but Police Chief Karin DiMichele said the program is inspired by a similar one that's popular with the sheriff's departments in Florida.

"This is a program to remind residents to lock cars, homes and shut their garage doors," DiMichele said.

Each week in the department's police blotter, DiMichele inevitably has two or three reports that resulted from a vehicle or home being left unlocked.

One incident in October, where a homeowner woke up to the sound of his car being stolen from his driveway, led to the discovery of dozens of key fobs that had been stolen from car owners. But more often the incidents are limited to people stealing GPS units, loose change or other items left in the vehicle.

The reminders are posted to the department's Facebook account nightly about 9 p.m. and tweeted as well, and some clever soul has rewritten lyrics from a variety of singers, such as this remix of "When Doves Cry" by Prince: "Maybe I’m just like my mother. She never locks her doors. Why do we scream at each other. This is what it sounds like, when they take what’s yours. #9PMROUTINE"

Others have been takeoffs on movies such as "Ghostbusters" and this classic line from "Airplane!" "I just want to tell you all good luck. We're all counting on you to lock your doors."

DiMichele hopes the awareness campaign will make a dent in some of the burglaries by deterring thieves who can't just get access to the vehicle.

You can follow the department's Facebook page and Twitter account to get the nightly reminder.

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Photo by Karen Wall, Patch staff