{"id":214853,"date":"2026-03-21T23:56:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T23:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/214853\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T23:56:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T23:56:08","slug":"el-paso-police-to-host-free-vin-etching-to-combat-vehicle-theft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/214853\/","title":{"rendered":"El Paso Police to host free VIN etching to combat vehicle theft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">EL PASO, Texas (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktsm.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:KTSM;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;KTSM&quot;}\" class=\"link \">KTSM<\/a>) \u2014 To promote community safety and to help protect personal property, the El Paso Police Department\u2019s Auto Theft Task Force is hosting a free VIN etching event.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The event, in partnership with Sam\u2019s Club, will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 28 at Sam\u2019s Club, 9498 Gateway Blvd.<\/p>\n<p>This initiative is designed to provide residents with a powerful, permanent deterrent against vehicle theft, El Paso Police said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">VIN etching involves the professional engraving of the vehicle\u2019s unique 17-digit vehicle identification number.<\/p>\n<p>This process significantly decreases the resale value of stolen vehicles to \u201cchop shops,\u201d making them less attractive targets for criminals, police said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cOur goal with the Auto Theft Task Force is to stay ahead of criminal trends by giving our community the tools they need to protect their investments. By partnering with local businesses for these free events we are able to help the public add an extra layer of security to their vehicles. This is just one of the many ways EPPD is working to ensure our city remains one of<br \/>the safest in the nation,\u201d El Paso Police said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The El Paso Police Department says proactive measures, such as VIN etching and the \u201cLock It or Lose It\u201d philosophy, are essential to reduce auto theft across the region.<\/p>\n<p>For more information, call the El Paso Police Department Auto Theft Task Force at (915) 212-0310.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktsm.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.&quot;}\" class=\"link \"> For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) \u2014 To promote community safety and to help protect personal property, the El Paso&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186107,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[84036,138,140,139,1785,2263,31925,84037,84038],"class_list":["post-214853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-auto-theft","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-el-paso-police","tag-el-paso-police-department","tag-sams-club","tag-vin","tag-vin-etching"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214853\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}