There are certain things we grew up doing only to be told later on that we might have been doing wrong all along. This isn’t always because those things were wrong in themselves, but as time changes and the new things start happening in the society, the situation might warrant us to make adjustments in our behavior.

For example, many of us grew up being to know that the normal place to keep your car registration documents is in the glove compartment of your car. Although this isn’t wrong on its own, changes in the society most especially in the way some criminals now operate might require you to start making some adjustments.

The rationale behind keeping your registration documents in your glove box makes sense since it makes it easy to hand it over to a police officer if for any reason you get pulled over. However, the police are now urging citizens to stop keeping their registration documents in the glove box. Although this might sound counterintuitive, as you might come to find out it is all for your own safety at the end of the day.

Police say that thieves now hunt for valuable pieces of information written on their registration document and may use it to attack the owners if they happen to lay hold of it. The cops say there have been reports of criminals who break into parked cars to look for the car owner’s address which is usually written on the registration document. Armed with this information, the thieves might then drive the car to the owner’s house and rob it.

According to Officer L. Sajdak of the Atlanta Police Department: “We encourage everyone to please remove all valuables and important paperwork (not only about your car or finances but also containing your personal information) from their vehicles,”

Similarly, The National Insurance Crime Bureau also issued a warning to car owners about how to keep their important information safe. The bureau advised that instead of carrying the original copy of the documents and leaving them in the car, you should instead take a photo with your phone or make a photocopy that can be carried along with you in your wallet. This Atlanta Police Department has also confirmed their willingness to accept a photo substitute of the registration document in place of the original since they can easily confirm vehicle details using from their computers. Thus there will be no need for car owners to carry original documents in their car anymore.
Additional tips you can follow to keep your important information safe includes:

Making a copy of the registration with the part containing your address whited out. This way you can keep the original at home and you can carry the copy without an address with you everywhere.

Avoid keeping valuables, electronics, cash or even guns in your vehicle since those are the things the thieves are looking for when they break into your car.

However many of those who commented on the post don’t think the Atlanta PD’s suggestion is a real solution to the problem.

According to one commenter, it is not even possible in some states: “Some states, like Florida, require that you keep the original registration in your vehicle.”
Another commenter feels it shouldn’t just be about vehicle registration alone both everything with potentially important information:

“There’s probably a lot more in the glove box that has the address: insurance card, warranty records, purchase/financing documents, etc.”

One commenter even thought of another approach thieves might use that put you in danger even without the registration information.

“Why would thieves go to the trouble of looking for your home address on your vehicle registration when it is much easier to tell the GPS or vehicle navigation system to go “home”?

Another commenter pointed out another vulnerable point.

“If they can’t or don’t want to drive off with the victim’s car, they can just get away with the victims’ garage door opener after noting the victim’s address.”
While all of this information and their potential implication can be quite scary, what is most important is to avoid keeping valuables out of the car and safeguard your cars to prevent anyone from breaking into it.