The Chattanooga Police Department wants to combat a rise in auto theft with greater public education on how to protect vehicles.

Eddie Mansell of the Crime Prevention Unit and Jeff Rearden of Auto Theft spoke to the press Thursday, telling citizens to practice safer habits with their vehicles.

Out of the 139 auto thefts reported in January, 58 percent were “joy rides,” where the thief steals the car temporarily and not to bring it to a chop shop, Mr. Mansell said.

“We recover 58 percent totally in usable condition. When the weather gets colder we see an increase in this crime,” he said.

“Auto theft is a big problem for such a little city,” Mr. Rearden said. “One-hundred-thirty-nine auto thefts for one month is outrageous.”

Mr. Rearden called for a “common sense approach” for owners wanting to keep their cars safe. Some of the common sense methods suggested include locking the vehicle while it sits at home, taking the keys out of the car when stepping outside of it temporarily and not leaving a car running due to cold weather.

“It’s really easy for an opportunistic thief to grab that car and go with it,” he said. “You can stand a few minutes of cold to keep your vehicle and your property from being stolen.”

Mr. Rearden also recommended putting personal property kept in a car out of sight, and getting a toggle switch to prevent vehicles from being hotwired.

There were 1,341 reported auto thefts in 2002, down from 2,194 in 2000 and 1,554 in 2001, Mr. Rearden said. Chattanooga’s police force has a 63 percent rate of recovery for stolen vehicles, which Mr. Rearden said is better than the national average. “Our patrol department does an excellent job for us,” he said.

Oldsmobiles and Chevrolet Caprices are the vehicles stolen most often by joy riders because they are easy for juveniles to break into, Mr. Rearden said. He called auto theft a “city-wide problem.”

“We don’t have one problem area where it’s worse than anywhere else,” he said.

Citizens have the option of getting involved in the Watch Your Car program, in which they get a sticker put on their car, which will give Tennessee police permission to stop the car and question the driver between the hours of 1 a.m. and 5 a.m.

Mr. Rearden also credited community awareness for the strong recovery rate. “We’re getting a lot more public service announcements out there, the Watch Your Car program, that’s helped us a lot,” he said.

Organizations such as civic clubs could have officers speak to them on auto safety, police spokesman Ed Buice said. “These guys can come talk about ways to not get your car stolen,” he said.