The public safety director of Newark called on car owners in New Jersey’s suburbs to lock their vehicles because they’re being stolen and used in violent crime in his jurisdiction.

““We’re asking people in our suburbs to be more diligent about locking their cars,” Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said. "...We are seeing many cases where key fobs are left in cars, and these criminals just open an unlocked door and they are gone. Failing to lock your car and to take the key fob with you might result in a worse crime down the line.”

It’s a new take on the issue, especially for Newark, which has long been known as the stolen car capital of New Jersey. But Newark police, meanwhile, are also expending resources on recovering stolen cars from other municipalities.

To combat the issue, Ambrose announced on Tuesday a new task force within the city’s police division to gather information from other law enforcement agencies that would track stolen cars and people who are arrested in car thefts.

It’s called the Felony Auto Theft Investigative Unit, and is being launched as a 90-day pilot program.

Ambrose says that last year alone, more than 300 cars were stolen from neighboring counties like Essex, Union, Morris and Passaic, but also from as far as Middlesex, Monmouth and Somerset. Newark police so far this year have recovered 120 stolen vehicles from other municipalities. And 41 of them, or 34%, were involved in violent crimes, Ambrose said.

Luxury cars and SUVs, such as Range Rovers, were most targeted by thieves, Ambrose said.

A similar initiative, the Essex/Union County Auto Theft Task Force, once used municipal and county officers to combat car thefts throughout the area in the 1990s. Former Essex County Prosecutor Patricia Hurt abruptly withdrew from the program in 1999.

Ambrose was acting police chief in Newark when the program ended more than two decades ago.

Roselle Park Police Chief Daniel McCaffery told NJ Advance Media he would be completely on board working with Newark to combat car thefts. The Union County borough sits along Route 28 and neighbors the Garden State Parkway, giving easy access to car thieves to larger cities like Newark.

“Newark is a very proactive city when it comes to car thefts,” said McCaffery, who also worked on the Essex/Union County Auto Theft Task Force. “It’s just unfortunate that a lot of these vehicles end up in their cities.”

McCaffery called vehicle theft a “crime of opportunity" since those who commit it rarely have to break windows because people don’t lock their car doors. The Roselle Park Police Department routinely reminds residents through social media to do a 9 p.m. check to make sure all their doors are locked.

Both Ambrose and McCaffery say part of the solution begins with car owners: simply remembering to lock your car door could prevent any would-be-robber from hopping inside and running off with it.

Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @BeccaPanico.