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Editorial: We all need to pay more attention to locking cars, homes

Vail Daily Editorial Board
Our View

Even by the standards of other small communities, the Vail Valley is a pretty safe place, with relatively low levels of both property and violent crimes. But we aren’t immune to dirty deeds — mostly of the nonviolent variety, thankfully.

Several car break-ins — and even a few vehicle thefts — were reported in Vail over the past few weeks. Any number of skis and snowboards disappear every winter. Bicycles and other recreational gear turn up missing during warmer months. Someone posting to the Eagle County Classifieds group on Facebook recently reported a disturbing burglary in which a rental home in Gypsum was ransacked.

This all stinks. People should be better to each other.



But jerks and knuckleheads are everywhere, even in our relatively quiet valley. Growth has seemingly brought more numbskulls to our valley, but probably not out of proportion to their already-small percentage of the population.

Still, every property or violent crime victimizes someone. Many of us already lock our homes and cars. But a lot of folks in the valley — particularly longtime residents — still leave their homes open during the day. Some still leave their keys in their cars. As an aside, pretty much everyone knows to check the driver’s side sun visor for keys in an unlocked car.

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Fortunately, this casual approach to security still works, most of the time. One employee of this newspaper accidentally left his front door not just unlocked, but open, before leaving for a summer-weekend trip. All his stuff, and the family cat, were still intact upon his return. A storm door kept the bugs out and the cat in.

Locked doors are only temporary deterrents to the persistent, of course. Still, a locked bedroom, home or car will stave off most casual attempts to make off with your stuff.

It’s also wise not to advertise the presence of good stuff in your home or car. People tend not to steal what they can’t see.

Again, our valley is a generally very safe place. But we can all do a bit more to keep our small but growing population of nitwits with ill intent out of our lives.

The best news is that all of those steps are what marketing people like to call “low-hanging fruit.” No one here needs inner-city-style steel bars over their home windows or elaborate locks on their vehicles. But a dollop of caution never hurt anyone — except a dimbulb looking for easy pickings.

The Vail Daily Editorial Board is comprised of Business Editor Scott Miller, Managing Editor Krista Driscoll and Publisher Mark Wurzer.


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