Cops give the worst advice

This is one hundred percent wrong. Please do not do this. You will definitely regret it.

Over the past few months, Eyewitness News has told you about a series of car break-ins in both Orleans and Jefferson Parish. In the last four weeks along, crimemapping.com shows over 500 reports of vehicle break-ins and theft in New Orleans.

It’s the reason why District D Councilmember Jared Brossett has a stack of “Lock it or Lose  It” signs in city hall.  “My office has received a lot of complaints from concerned citizens regarding break-ins throughout the city and throughout my district,” Councilmember Brossett said.  Brossett said he’s partnering with Crimestopper GNO for their “Lock it or Lose it” campaign.

"Most of the car break-ins we've got statistics from Crimestoppers say that 70 percent of them have been from unlocked vehicles," he said.

Locking your car at night is a great idea if your objective is to wake up to a smashed window the next day. I learned that the hard way a couple of times. I don't think I've locked a car door in at least ten years now.  I'd leave the windows rolled down too if a person could ever trust the weather around here.

Sure some mornings I walk out to discover evidence of an overnight visit.  But as long as I remember not to leave anything valuable in there, it's no harm to anyone. It's a strategy these people may like to consider.

Darlene Cusanza with Crimestoppers GNO said the suspects are not just stealing cash. Last year, Cusanza said more than 700 guns were stolen from unlocked vehicles throughout the Greater New Orleans area.

What is even going on out there? I thought gun owners were all about defending their "castle" from invasion.  How does leaving the gun in the car help with that? 

What if, for example, you are lying in bed at a reasonable hour (say 11:30 pm on a Friday night) just reading your book peacefully, and someone just walks into your apartment thinking it is his Airbnb?  Wouldn't you feel silly then?  I certainly did last night when this exact thing happened to me. I don't mean I felt silly not to have a gun. I don't own one. I mean it was awkward for all of us, the guy, his wife, my cat and their chihuahua to stand around with me in my boxers trying to figure out what was going on.  

It turns out what was going on is one of the neighbors is running Airbnb out of her apartment. She gets pretty good reviews. The consensus among her customers is the place is a little bit noisy and "dingy" but the location is super convenient to all of your favorite "NOLA" sights.  I can't argue with any of that.  And I should know I've lived in the building for almost 20 years now.  But I guess actually living in your home isn't what people do here anymore unless you are "fair sharing" your personal space with tourists. 

In this case, though, it was my space that almost got shared. Still not exactly sure how that happened but from what we were able to gather last night the guests just tried the wrong door. And that wouldn't have been too bad except for the fact that the key she had left for them happened to be a master somehow. So this means, not only has the neighbor had a key to my apartment since the day she moved in, she has also been lending it out to random strangers on the internet for the better part of two years now.  Anyway, the "sharing economy" is very good. 

I guess if I had heard about something like this happening to somebody else I'd be upset. But since it's me, it's just another awkward and funny thing to put on the pile.  Or at least it would be that if not for the fact that Menckles lives in my home too. I'm very glad she was sitting out on the back porch at the time so it could be me instead of her who got walked in on. This is the only reason something unfortunate did not happen to the poor confused visitor regardless of whether there was a gun in the house or not. 

It's also the only reason somebody got up extra early this morning to run out and buy a new lock for the front door. In fact she had already installed it by the time I left for work.  If I lived alone I can easily imagine myself letting the situation go on as is for months just to see how many more times something like this might happen. Because she is there, it feels like a violation. If it's just me, it's just a funny bit. 

Either way, at least nobody has to bother the police over something as trivial as whether or not a door is locked.  Sounds like they've got their hands full enough as it is trying to track down all those guns.