This week, the Metropolitan Police has been leafleting cars parked in Dupont Circle, Logan Circle and the U Street corridor to inform car owners who park in areas with high rates of car theft about a new program to monitor their cars. Watch Your Car is a national program where car owners who don’t use their cars between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. place decals in their windows. If police anywhere see cars with the decals driving around during the overnight hours, those cars will be immediately pulled over and investigated.

This is all in reaction to the mayor’s car theft action alert which has put the Metropolitan Police into full gear to attack a recent spike in car thefts, many by teenagers who steal cars for joyrides.

DCist knows of one car stolen from a U Street-area side street that was recently recovered by the Metropolitan Police a few blocks away, with its anti-theft tracking system disabled. The car was towed to a Montana Avenue holding lot, where the owner discovered spent blunts, along with the Maryland plates that were affixed to the D.C. tags. The owner said that cops never finger-printed the vehicle.

The MPD, on its leaflets, says that along with not leaving keys in the ignition and not leaving autos running, it suggests installing a steering wheel lock and anti-theft door locks.