There were 181 reported car prowls in the City of Seattle over the last seven days of September; a number that beats out any other reported crime in the city over that period.

According to the Seattle Police Department website, “You are more likely to be a victim of a vehicle crime than any other crime reported to the Seattle Police Department. An experienced Car Prowler or Thief can gain access to your car in virtually seconds. In less than 30 seconds, someone could break into a parked car. Most car prowls themselves take less than two minutes. The damage done to locks and windows can be very expensive to repair and cause great inconvenience.”

Car prowls in West Seattle hold to this pattern and in any given week can dominate the police reports. According to Capt. Steve Paulsen, commander for the SPD Southwest Precinct, car prowls, car theft and home burglary are the main focus of police in West Seattle because it is primarily a residential area.

Car prowls top that list in occurrence because they are so easy to pull off, according to Capt. Paulsen.

“A car prowl only takes five seconds; break a window, grab what you need and run,” he said. “It is a lot safer (for the criminal) than a residential burglary because there are a lot of unknowns when you break into a house.”

The relative quickness and ease of a car prowl makes prevention no easy task, but there are a few tips that come up time and time again.

“People have got to make their cars unattractive for someone to break into,” Capt. Paulsen said.

“It’s what we call the easy burglary because they are getting the same stuff they get in a residential burglary. The laptops, the purses, the golf clubs, the GPS’s, all the toys and cell phones – people will leave them out in the open and it’s saying ‘come and take me,’” he said.

Capt. Paulsen believes our fast-paced lives are partially to blame.

We’ve all been there, moving from one task to another with a breakneck pace that leaves a very attractive IPod sitting out on the passenger seat while we run in for a coffee, or coming home from a long day at the office with dinner and a new episode of Desperate Housewives on the mind instead of undocking a GPS or stereo face.

Deborah Greer, a long-time blockwatch captain and co-chair of the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains’ Network added that even leaving a bag in the car can lead to trouble.

“I wonder what’s in there?” Greer said, mimicking the thought process of a burglar on the prowl.

Another main step in car prowl prevention is keeping an eye out for suspicious activity, according to Capt. Paulsen.

“People know their neighborhoods better than anyone else,” he said. “You know what looks strange in your neighborhood – you live in it, you feel it, you experience it. Even if you see a strange car driving through you are going to take an extra look. Are they lost, are they a normal person or are they casing something looking for an opportunity?”

He encourages people to call 911 if they see a strange car or person walking through their neighborhood.

“A lot of people are shy: is it really worth it to call 911 because I see someone walking down the street that I don’t really know?” Capt. Paulsen said. “Your instincts are your life experience telling you something you can’t articulate. It’s no problem to call 911 and say this doesn’t look right.”

Capt. Paulsen said the police may not be able to respond to every call, but every call is logged into the police system and it may help them establish crime patterns that could lead to the arrest of serial prowlers.

That being said, there will be cases of random, opportunistic car prowls that do not hold to a pattern.

The SPD car prowl page offers a few more tips on prevention that includes always locking your car and rolling up your windows, parking in a garage or well-lit areas and installing motion detector units that will light up when someone gets close the your car - a “good psychological deterrent.”

Seattle also has a City Light Area Lighting Program which allows additional lights to be placed on poles in dark and isolated areas at a cost of less than $5 a month (call 206-684-3000 for more information).

When officers respond to a car prowl they are trained to collect as much evidence as possible, Capt. Paulsen said. Officers working as primary responders are cross-trained as detectives, he said, so they know what information needs to be gathered to put together a case.

Capt. Paulsen also encourages people to get involved in blockwatch programs and getting to know their neighbors.

“We get so caught up in our daily lives and being tied to technology with our Blackberries, meeting schedules, going out for a latte,” he said. “I think sometimes we’ve lost that old fashioned thing of taking care of your neighbor, caring for each other.”