Belton, TX — Several years ago, The Free Thought Project reported on the Rosenberg Texas Police Department attempting to break into cars to—get this—prevent thieves from breaking into cars. After we exposed the practice, we thought it had disappeared from modern policing tactics. We were wrong.

Police in Belton, Texas, are now apparently following the example of the Rosenberg PD, and are going around checking citizens' car doors to see if they are open or not. What may sound like a good idea to the police department, has left more than a few Belton residents upset over the perceived invasion of their privacy.

Belton resident Jordyn Hendry said someone broke into her car on Monday, tossed all of the contents around on the inside, and then left a note behind explaining why. Here is her Facebook post with pictures of the mess and the card the vandals left behind:

According to the notice that was called a "Crime Awareness Alert," Officer Kusak (badge number 226), of the Belton Police Department was patrolling the area and noticed Hendry's car windows were down or open. We know this because he circled that information on the card. He then wrote in one of the blanks that the car's registration was expired.