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Broadcast time: 3:15pm |
Date: December 13, 2016 |
The Sarnia Police Service will be participating in the province-wide “Lock It or Lose It” campaign to prevent thefts of vehicles and valuables left in plain view this holiday season.
Sarnia Police would like to remind motorists and passengers to Lock It or Lose It when it comes to their vehicles and valuables as part of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) annual Lock It or Lose It campaign. Ontario police services are launching this year’s
Lock It or Lose It campaign during the holiday season because it’s easy to be distracted and leave vehicles unlocked or valuables in plain sight during the holiday hustle-and-bustle.
The Sarnia Police Service will use “Lock It or Lose It” notices throughout the season as part of our on-going crime prevention efforts. During the Lock It or Lose It campaign, officers examine parked vehicles to confirm they are locked and that no valuables have been left in plain view. They place a small notice on vehicles checked indicating what safety precautions were neglected and offer simple prevention tips for drivers to protect their vehicles against theft. The notices also congratulate drivers who have secured their vehicle.
This year, police are particularly concerned that motor vehicle theft rates are up for the second consecutive year. According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, there were nearly 79,000 incidents of motor vehicle theft reported by police in 2015, resulting in a rate of 220 per 100,000 population. Between 2014 and 2015, the rate of motor vehicle theft in Canada increased 6%. This was the second consecutive increase in the rate following ten years of declines. The rate in Sarnia has declined slightly from a total of 102 motor vehicle thefts reported in 2015, to 88 occurrences so far in 2016. These statistics include any “motorized vehicle”. Also in 2016, a total of 599 thefts from vehicles have been reported so far to the Sarnia Police Service, compared to a total of 706 thefts from vehicles in 2015.
Motorists and passengers are also urged not to keep personal documents such as vehicle ownership, liability pink slips, credit card invoices, or other documents containing personal information in their vehicles. Identity thieves are looking for such documents so they can assume identities, secure credit card accounts, lease vehicles for export, and even take out a mortgage against victims’ properties without their knowledge.
Constable Nelson Amaral
Community Services Branch
Tel: 519-344-8861 Ext 6137
Email: namaral@police.sarnia.on.ca