Sheffield Police are flyering YOUR cars to raise safety awareness

South Yorkshire Police have been sticking fake ‘Wanted’ posters on cars around Sheffield as part of ‘Operation Lock Down’. The posters feature the character ‘Nick De Mota’ and have been put on the windscreens of cars that have valuables on show.

Could Nick De Mota be letting everyone know about your where your valuables are?

Police say that in a single day they found 20 cars left unlocked or unattended with their windows down. Items spotted in parked cars accumulated to 17 sat navs, 6 mobile phones, games consoles and even cash.

So, are police simply to trying to warn ‘dozy’ motorists or could these posters be seen as a passive-aggressive act that lay blame with motorists and stick a welcome mat out for prospective thieves?

Second year Psychology student Lotty Walsh said ‘I think what the police are doing should be seen as a good thing. Student areas in particular are often targeted by thieves. I have my car at Uni and would be devastated if anything were to be stolen out of it.’

Nick De Mota’s twitter feed…

However another second year phychologist Lauren Jones said ‘I think the operation has been taken a bit far, if people are stupid enough to leave their cars unlocked or windows down then that is their fault.’

Police have even made a special website for the operation where the public can look at what areas thieves have been operating in. Areas such as Fulwood, Ecclesall and the badlands of Broomhall, which are prolific with students, show to be just some of the areas under attack.

The main message of the website is to urge the public to take ‘basic safety precautions’ to avoid becoming victims of crime.

The operation has even sparked the creation of a twitter account under the name ‘Nick De Mota’. It features tweets from the fictional character talking about how he is off to see what he can find in Christmas shoppers cars and expresses how he hopes ‘they’ve left some lovely gifts on show for me.’