Somebody Finally Listened to the Police Department’s 9 pm Routine

Charlie Dwyer

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ – If you follow your local police department on Facebook, you probably noticed their constant calls for residents to do the “9 pm routine” to make sure their cars are locked, valuables are removed and keyfobs are not inside.

You probably also noticed that despite that warning, many people are ignoring it and their cars are being broken into and worse, stolen.

On Monday, the Gloucester Township Police Department credited the 9 pm routine for thwarting a burglary.

“On Saturday, at 5:30 AM, the Gloucester Township Police Department received a report from an alert citizen that a suspicious male was attempting to gain entry into a vehicle that was parked in his driveway,” police said. “Officers responded to a unit block of Chews Landing Road and located the suspicious male, who was later identified as Dylan Dougherty. He was found to have several outstanding warrants for his arrest and was positively identified at the scene as being the person who was attempting to gain entry into a locked vehicle. He was then placed under arrest and transported to GTPD headquarters for processing.”


Dylan Dougherty was charged with Criminal Attempt Burglary (3rd degree) and processed on several outstanding warrants out of multiple jurisdictions. He was remanded to the Camden County Correctional Facility in accordance with the New Jersey Bail Reform Act.

“The Gloucester Township Police Department would like to highlight this case to serve as an example to remind all residents that doing the 9 PM Routine works! Get into the 9 PM Routine every night by ensuring that your Keys or Key FOB’s are removed from your vehicle, your valuables are removed from your vehicle, and your vehicle is locked,” the department said.

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