Thieves are stealing more cars in Selma, so police now have a new approach to tackle the issue.
The Selma Police Department has joined forces with the California Highway Patrol's auto-theft task force.
During their operation this week, they nabbed a couple accused thieves and found stolen cars along the way.
From June 1st to July 15th, there have been three dozen stolen vehicles in Selma, so the police department constructed a new approach to tackle this issue.
Earlier this week, Selma's detectives paired up with CHP to focus on nothing but auto theft.
Detective Joshua Johnson with the Selma Police Department said, "It gives us the opportunity to spend time, do the surveillance and really combat the situation as opposed to just responding to the call."
In just two days, officers recovered 5 stolen vehicles and arrested two men, 34-year-old Daniel Rodriguez and 40-year-old Gabriel Cantu. Both were booked for drugs too. "More often then not, with vehicle theft, you're also seeing other related charges, other stolen property, drug related charges and what not," said Detective Johnson.
Officer Lance Pearce with the Selma Police Department is always keeping his eyes out for vehicles that may be stolen; looking for broken windows or a punched out lock, or anything that looks suspicious. "It's one of the most personal items you can steal from a person because they drive it everyday," said Officer Pearce.
Police say the key to protecting your ride is to make it difficult to take, so consider installing an alarm or ignition kill switch. "It's like shoplifting... they're looking for the quick score. They're not going to waste time with that, they're going to move on to the next one," said Officer Pearce.
Remember, cops can't be everywhere, so if you see something suspicious, call it in. "We're here, we're 24 hours a day. All you have to do is call and we will send an officer to respond and check it out," said Detective Johnson.
Selma police are happy with the results they got in the short time frame, so they plan on teaming up with the CHP heat" team more often to really drive those auto theft numbers down.
