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Kamloops News

Thieves targeting different neighbourhoods

Image Credit: Toa55 via FreeDigitalImages.net

KAMLOOPS — Theft from vehicles is not new, but it is happening in Kamloops and people are taking notice.

Thieves have been targeting a different area of the city every night, breaking into vehicles and stealing whatever they can get their hands on.

“Two nights ago in Pineview we had three vehicles broken into,” Cpl. Cheryl Bush of the Kamloops RCMP says, “Before that there was four in Juniper. They seem to move around and to an area one evening and they wreak havoc.”

Bush notes while numbers overall do not seem to be up, with forums like community Facebook groups, people are talking about it more.

“You will get more than the normal chatter in Facebook groups,” she says. “It's not to say it's not happening anywhere else, but Brock has a forum and they're talking about it more.”

Of note, during the first week of April there were more thefts from vehicles in the Sahali area than Brock.

“The problem is people continually leave stuff in vehicles,” Bush notes. “Thieves will go through neighbourhoods and will go up and down streets. Some will smash windows and others will just go through and try car doors. If they find one (unlocked) they will rummage through to see if there's anything.”

April is Auto Crime Enforcement month in B.C. And while it is tough to get people to change their behaviours Bush wants to remind people to be vigilant.

“Just because your street hasn't been hit before, doesn't mean it won't be,” she says. “It's up to all of us to be responsible for prevention. It's an expensive lesson”

Auxiliary officers will start patrolling areas soon to look for at-risk vehicles and alerting the owners about the potential for theft and how to prevent it. Bait cars are also now being used to catch thieves that steal from cars, not just stealing cars.

She also notes the F-Series pickups are the number one stolen vehicle in both the Interior and all of B.C., so the recent thefts of several trucks is not a complete surprise. Thieves also target garage door openers and Bush recommends manually locking your garage door whenever your vehicle will be parked outside or elsewhere for the night.

“If they break into your car and can get into your garage, it's like giving them the keys to your house,” she says, adding these type of thefts are not new.

“It's that common and that real.”

To contact a reporter for this story, email Jennifer Stahn at jstahn@infotelnews.ca or call 250-819-3723. To contact an editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

Credit: Bait Car
IMPACT - Theft From Cars Demonstration
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