Police are warning vehicle owners to remove the registration from their glove box for this reason

If you’re someone who owns a car, you’re probably like most people: you keep your registration card in the glove compartment of your car. This is usually where most people keep this information in case they get pulled over by the police and need to check vehicle information.

However, recently law enforcement agencies are not urging drivers to do the opposite and remove your registration from the glove box.

They have a good reason for that. Criminals can use this valuable information for their own sneaky purposes. Many reports have come out that criminals broke into a parked car in a parking lot and went straight to the registration where the address of the car owner is written. Once they have the registration, they take it a step further and drive to the victim’s home to rob it.

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

The National Insurance Crime Bureau urges everyone to take a photo of your registration on your phone or carry a photocopy of it in your wallet. This way you always have it with you and can still show it to the police if requested. The Atlanta Police Department has confirmed that they will accept a photo version of the registration as they can verify the information on their computer. Most of the time they don’t even ask for registration because everything can be checked and confirmed in their own electronic files.
Many states now allow you to show an electronic version of your registration at traffic stops as well.

Chad Jensen suggests the following:
Make a photocopy of the registration, cross out the address and copy this page. Keep the original at home and keep the copy in the glove compartment without an address and shred the one with white-out on it.

The Atlanta Police Department said thieves generally search cars for electronics, cash, or even weapons, so make sure you don’t keep anything in your vehicle that gives them a reason to break in.
Commenters shared their thoughts on the topic…

“Some states, like Florida, require that you keep the original registration in your vehicle.”
“There’s probably a lot more in the glove compartment with the address: insurance card, warranty documents, purchase/financing documents, etc.”
One commenter made a good point…

“Why would thieves bother to look up your home address on your vehicle registration document when it is much easier to tell the GPS or car navigation system to go ‘home’?

“If they can’t or don’t want to drive away in the victim’s car, they can just get away with the victim’s garage door opener after noting the victim’s address.”

It’s pretty scary to think about how little information is needed to wreak havoc on someone’s home and privacy.