You might want to check and see if your car is locked, as Perth County OPP are reporting car thefts are on the rise.
So far this year, Perth County OPP has investigated 44 stolen vehicle occurrences. At this time last year Perth County OPP had investigated 42. That marks an increase of five per cent.
According to police, over half of the incidents involved unlocked vehicles and situations in which the kets was left in the vehicle, readily accessible nearby.
Police say you can reduce the opportunity for theft by ensuring you lock the vehicle and always pocket your keys.
Perth County OPP said 50 per cent of the vehicles stolen so far this year were trucks, and 59 per cent had the keys left in the vehicle or the vehicle was left running
As well, 65 per cent of vehicles were stolen after dark between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
And 52 per cent of the vehicles were stolen from rural areas versus 48 per cent from a town or built-up area
“Crime prevention is critical to community safety. Theft of vehicles are often crimes of opportunity with people targeting unlocked vehicles. We ask for your help by securing your vehicle and keys. Together we can help prevent this type of crime,” said Perth County Detachment Commander, Insp. Wendy Burrow.
Another concern for Perth County OPP is once a criminal gets access to a stolen vehicle, it often leads to further criminal offences such as break and enters, thefts, drug trafficking and dangerous driving events on our roadways.
