The Chatham-Kent Police Service braved the cold weather on Thursday to kick-start an annual 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.
This morning members of the Chatham-Kent Police Service met at Walmart in Wallaceburg as part of their on-going crime prevention efforts. Members were handing out pamphlets to shoppers with tips on how to keep their purchases safe this holiday season.
“It’s easy to not lock your vehicle and run into the store, but unfortunately there are people out there that may notice that and take whatever purchases you already have,” said Const. Lynette Hodder at the event.
Helping out during the launch was the Chatham-Kent Fire Department, along with the new South Wallaceburg Community group.
“It’s a brand new group and is comprised of citizen’s in the south Wallaceburg area,” Hodder said.
“There goals are to develop this area, create more of a community feel. Some results of these types of associations and these types of groups is crime reduction. It’s an overall wellness for the community.”
Through the ‘Lock It or Lose It’ campaign, Community Mobilization Sgt. Jim Lynds said the CKPS is encouraging people to take the time to lock up.
“The Chatham-Kent Police understands how busy this time of year is for everyone, it only takes seconds to lock your car, protect your valuables, which prevents crime and victimization,” Lynds said in a press release..
“We encourage everyone to take that extra second and lock your car even if you are just leaving your car for a few minutes.”
This year, police are particularly concerned that auto 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.
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.
– Photo credit: Aaron Hall
