With the increase in holiday shopping we would like to remind you that one of the best ways to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of a vehicle burglary is to simply lock your car.

Take, Lock, Hide is the basic crime fighting tool to help reduce vehicle burglaries.

• Lock your vehicle. It takes seconds to break a window, but doing so makes noise – and criminals hate making noise.
• Hide valuables from sight or take them with you. If a criminal doesn’t see anything, they’re less likely to break in and will move on.
• Park in  highly visible areas.  Well lit parking lots, with good “sight lines”, make it more likely your vehicle is visible to the general public.
• Aftermarket car stereos; consider models with removable face plates. Take the face plate with you when your leave your vehicle.
• Record serial numbers of property you may leave inside your vehicle. If stolen, it makes it more likely the suspect, if he tries to pawn the item, will be identified.

There is no 100% fool-proof way to prevent all crime. But there are steps you can take to reduce risk.  Simply locking your vehicle and hiding or removing property from inside is half the battle.