VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – Car break-ins have long been a problem across the country and right here in Hampton Roads, so in 2022, the Virginia Beach Police Department implemented vehicle report cards in an effort to curb them.

The orange report cards have a pass or fail on the top, and then a checklist of certain valuables like backpacks, wallets, electronics and more. If officers walking by your car see any of those valuables plainly sitting out in your car, they’ll put that orange notice on your windshield saying fail.

“If valuables are left in plain sight in locked vehicles it’s leading to more thefts from more vehicles and sometimes motor vehicle thefts,” said Public Information Officer Jude Brenya.

Brenya told 10 On Your Side he doesn’t want people to freak out if they see the notice on their car. It’s just to help drivers realize what could have been stolen if their car was broken into.

“Most people see these things on their windshield and they’re like, ‘Oh, it’s a ticket.’ It’s not a ticket. It does not have any legal consequences,” Brenya said.

So how has the initiative fared in curbing car thefts in the past two years?

“Currently the stats actually … show that there is a downward [trend] in thefts from motor vehicles and motor vehicle thefts in general,” Brenya said, although he didn’t have specific numbers on how the report cards have helped.

Recognition of the initiative comes at a time when many shootings in Virginia Beach have been linked to guns that were stolen from cars.

So can the report card still apply if an officer sees a gun on the seat in someone’s car?

“They [officers] would take the proper measure, as in trying to figure out who that vehicle belongs to,” Brenya said, “and do everything in their power to be able to notify that vehicle owner to secure that firearm, because we won’t just want to leave that firearm in plain sight.”

Responses from residents on social media span from people applauding the use of the report card to others disliking the initiative, thinking it means officers are going into their cars.

“I just want to let people know that our officers are not going into vehicles searching vehicles,” Brenya said. “They’re not even opening the doors. All we’re doing is, from the outside of the vehicle, trying to see what we can see.”