National Night Out was a wonderful evening in multiple Suffolk communities, but while everyone was celebrating the occasion I’m hoping everyone remembers what was on the back of every t-shirt.

“Lock it, don’t lose it.”

The simple saying is referencing locking your car doors so you don’t have anything stolen.

Personally, I think it’s a pretty simple thing, but after looking at the police reports I am proven wrong.

Day after day, theft from motor vehicles are constantly happening, and it’s noticeable that people are going into different neighborhoods and hitting multiple cars.

Police Chief Thomas Bennett addressed the crowd at the kick-off meeting in City Council Chambers and praised how crime is continuing to drop in Suffolk, but he reminded citizens to lock their cars.

The reminder was given because larceny was on the rise halfway through the year. As of July 31, larceny has raised eight percent, and Bennett attributes most of that rise to people not locking their cars.

I’ll forever be baffled that people don’t immediately lock their cars when they go somewhere, but I think that’s because I’ve always locked my car.

This isn’t just an issue in Suffolk. Plenty of other communities are using the same slogan to stress how important it is to lock your car when you’re not in it.

Simply locking your car causes the potential thief to walk away. Why? Because it is typically a crime of opportunity. That’s why so many cars get broken into in neighborhoods.

The people breaking in just walk around and grab car handles. If you’re the unlucky sap with an unlocked car they will steal your things. If you’re even more unlucky your car will be stolen.

Believe it or not, some people leave their keys in their car. Which also makes no sense.

Hopefully, the National Night Out message will resonate with everyone, and people will begin to lock their cars.

If cars get locked the crime numbers will continue to drop.