Barrie police are renewing their 'Lock It or Lose It' catchphrase as people continue to rummage through unlocked vehicles in the city.
Police issued a reminder through social media today after receiving reports of people waking up only to realize opportunistic thieves had stolen items from their vehicles in the middle of the night.
Barrie police communications co-ordinator Peter Leon told BarrieToday that an incident last night on College Crescent resulted in personal documents being taken, but that can also lead to bigger problems, such as identity theft.
“While it was documents and not necessarily things of monetary value, you would hate to wake up to realize that papers with your personal information are gone,” he said. “There is always the possibility of thieves using your information in ways you wouldn’t want.”
With Christmas just around the corner, Leon says it's also a good time of year to remember to lock your doors as the gift-buying begins.
“This is a constant thing in many communities and we hear often about vehicles where items are missing, money and anything else thieves can get their hands on,” he said. “As your hands are full of food and even gifts, you may forget some in the car and then also forget to lock up. You wouldn’t want food, gifts and money gone in the morning because you simply forgot to lock the doors.”
Police are reminding people to never leave valuables inside vehicles and to always lock your car doors when away from the vehicle.
“Some people start their car to warm it up and should be weary of those who use that opportunity to jump in and take either items or even your vehicle,” said Leon. “Again, lock it or lose it, it's that simple.”
