The Mokena Police Department has joined a statewide program with the secretary of state’s office to help prevent auto theft.
Residents can participate by registering their vehicles in the Beat Auto Theft program, or BAT, said Mokena Police Chief Stephen J. Pollak.
A one-time $5 fee per vehicle is paid to the secretary of state’s office for registration and decals, but until Jan. 1, the fee will be waived, Pollak said.
Each driver who joins the program will receive a BAT decal for the car window. If police see a decal on a vehicle being driven between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., they have permission to stop the car and determine whether the driver is the owner or has the owner’s permission to be driving it.
“The car can be stopped by police anywhere in the state,” Pollak said. “It’s a good tool for people who work the midnight shift or senior citizens who generally don’t drive between those hours. . . . It’s a good program for parents who have teenagers, and the parents think everyone is snoozing, but a teen is out in the car.”
If the owner uses the car during those hours, he or she might be asked to produce a valid driver’s license and an auto registration card to verify ownership, Pollak said.
Those whose driving habits change can withdraw from the program by sending in a cancellation form and removing the BAT decal, Pollak said.
BAT is funded in part by a grant from the Illinois Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Council.
From October 1996 and October 1997, 10 vehicles were stolen in Mokena, Pollak said. During the same period the year before nine were stolen, he said.
