Eight members of the Auburn Police Department — two patrol officers, five detectives and one commander — converged on Green River Community College just before noon Oct. 13.

But all for a good cause.

Auburn’s guys in blue walked through the main campus parking lots with GRCC personnel, scouting out the sorts of easy targets that would make the larcenous hearts of car prowlers and thieves skip a beat.

The department’s community response team and Fred Creek, director of campus safety at GRCC, put together the show of force, giving students a heckuva teaching moment.

“Wow, I didn’t know that made my car vulnerable,” one female student told Auburn Police Detective Cristian Adams, eyeballing a backpack and stereo in her car.

Team members found unlocked doors, car keys visible through the windows, cameras, wallets and purses, not to mention electronic gizmos like iPods, GPS devices, radar detectors and stereos sitting in plain sight like low-hanging fruit, ripe for the picking.

“Even CDs in cases will bring a buck or two at the pawnshop,” said Adams.

Just by looking through the windows. Adams estimated the value of the contents of one SUV at more than $200.

“There’s a satellite radio receiver, on the console is an iPod, there’s a case of CDs, shopping bags from Macy’s, and a book bag with textbooks,” Adams said.

Think the items in your car too hum-drum to tempt thieves? Well, think again.

“If you have bags and backpacks with nothing in them, a car thief doesn’t know that,” said Auburn Police Commander Jamie Sidell, who heads the department’s investigations division.

While the team saw a lot of electronics and easily-pawned items in vehicles about the campus, the sheer amount of personal data students and employees left in their cars — checkbooks, a check with a deposit slip, credit cards, receipts — caught detectives off guard. All the stuff was easy to find, and practiced thieves could use every bit of it in a flash to steal someone’s identity.

“Stow your gear out of sight, or don’t bring it with you, said Cmdr. Sidell. “Make it difficult for thieves.”