A campaign that's just been launched in an effort to prevent vehicle thefts and thefts from vehicles in the province by the Alberta Motor Association is being heartily endorsed by the Airdrie RCMP.  

"Lock It or Lose It" is a public awareness campaign that's calling attention to vehicle theft concerns in Alberta.  Constable Dan Martin of the Airdrie RCMP said the problem is a bigger one in the city than most people think.

"I would say it's a pretty big problem.  If you actually ran the City of Airdrie RCMP stats, one of our more frequent calls is with regards to stolen vehicles or break and enters into vehicles.  We're definitely trying to remind the public to lock up their vehicles.  AMA has started their own campaign that totally reinforces what most policing agencies in the Calgary area have been trying to get out.  A vast majority of our stolen vehicles are as a result of people simply leaving their vehicles unlocked and even running with the keys inside them."

In fact, Martin said the problem was brought to the fore just yesterday morning. 

"Prior to, I believe even 9:00 am, we got reports of three stolen vehicles within a 20 minute period.  They all occurred in the Hillcrest area and every single stolen vehicle was running with the keys inside.  They were all stolen within a close area."

Alberta leads the way in Canada when it comes to vehicle thefts.  On average, 62 vehicles are stolen per day in Alberta, according to a recent Statistics Canada survey.  That's approximately 29 percent of all vehicles stolen in the country.  

Martin pointed out that most vehicle thefts are "crimes of opportunity."  He said the harder you make it for thieves to take your vehicle, or take something from it, the more likely they are to simply move on to an easier target.

"We want to make it harder for the thieves.  If a vehicle's locked, it's not running and there are no valuables inside it, they're going to move on to the next one.  If we can get everybody to lock their vehicles up, remove their valuables and make sure they keep an eye on their vehicle if it is running, or stay inside when it is running, we can definitely cut down on the crime."

Unfortunately, according to Martin, campaigns like the "Lock It or Lose It" are only effective if people take them seriously.

"A lot of people live with a sense of denial, 'it'll never happen to me,' or, 'that won't happen here.'  I think it's important for people to realize that it can happen and you've got to take steps to protect yourself.  The RCMP obviously endorses the AMA campaign.  It's a word that we're trying to get out and we've been putting out media releases in the past with regards to taking steps to try and protect your property.  Anytime another partner agency takes it upon themselves to put out the word as well, we're all for supporting it."

You can find more tips on how to make sure you don't become a victim of vehicle thefts here.

 

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