Kelowna Residents are not Getting the Message and Locking Their Doors

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Kelowna RCMP is issuing a notice to residents about an increase in residential break and enters, specifically in the Rutland area.

Police say that home owners are not properly securing their homes and over the past few months more and more homes are being targeted. Crimes of opportunity such as break and enters and thefts from vehicles tend to increase during the summer months but these can easily be prevented if people locked their doors.

Over the past two weeks 63 per cent of all residential break ins can be directly attributed to an unlocked or unsecured home with an open window or patio door left open.

“You wouldn't put a sign on your front lawn telling people that your home is unlocked,” says Superintendent Nick Romanchuk, Officer in Charge of the Kelowna Regional RCMP, “but that’s essentially what you’re doing when a window or door is left open or unlocked.”

Thefts from vehicles are also on the rise with 55 per cent of the crimes being attributed to unlocked cars and the remainder attributed to valuables left in plain sight.

“Hiding your wallet or your keys inside your vehicle is not an effective means of security as, more often than not, thieves will find it,” adds Supt. Romanchuk.

The financial damage these crimes of opportunity cause can be in the tens of thousands of dollars for a single event, but that damage could very well be avoided completely by simply removing valuables from your vehicle, and locking your home’s windows and doors.