bigmack
01-17-2007, 04:04 PM
I say turn em' off or be cited for noise pollution. From an article:
In the past 20 years, car theft has evolved from a juvenile pastime into an $8.2 billion a year business. Organized professionals now account for 80% of stolen cars, and alarms don't deter them at all. "'Defeating' a car alarm is a non-issue," says criminologist Michael Maxfield, now studying car theft for the state of New Jersey. "Thieves smash windows, yank wires and the alarm is deactivated. Eighty percent of all thieves can and do steal a car with an alarm."
Police officers agree. "Alarms are fine for deterring joy riders," says detective E.S. Hopper, former head of the auto-theft unit in Atlanta. "But it would only be a two-second slowdown for a professional thief." Gary Sims, car theft expert for the Los Angeles Police Department, confirms: "I've watched suspects steal a Mercedes that had an alarm system in less than a minute."
In the past 20 years, car theft has evolved from a juvenile pastime into an $8.2 billion a year business. Organized professionals now account for 80% of stolen cars, and alarms don't deter them at all. "'Defeating' a car alarm is a non-issue," says criminologist Michael Maxfield, now studying car theft for the state of New Jersey. "Thieves smash windows, yank wires and the alarm is deactivated. Eighty percent of all thieves can and do steal a car with an alarm."
Police officers agree. "Alarms are fine for deterring joy riders," says detective E.S. Hopper, former head of the auto-theft unit in Atlanta. "But it would only be a two-second slowdown for a professional thief." Gary Sims, car theft expert for the Los Angeles Police Department, confirms: "I've watched suspects steal a Mercedes that had an alarm system in less than a minute."