By Jill Sperling

RCMP reiterate the costly consequences of unlocked vehicles

Jul 21, 2016 | 2:08 PM

KAMLOOPS — Local RCMP officers respond to between eight and 10 reports of thefts from vehicles every night, and 80 per cent of the time the vehicles are left unlocked. 

Today, July 21, Cpl. Jodi Shelkie demonstrated just how important it is to make sure vehicles are locked up and valuables are out of sight with a downtown walkabout for local media. 

Shelkie says even if a vehicle is locked, the sight of valuable items could entice a thief to break a window. 

She says the crime is not specific to a certain area of Kamloops and there isn’t a particular group committing it. 

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“This is considered a petty crime, and so it’s not a high level of sophistication looking for an unlocked vehicle,” Shelkie said. “So many people who have no source of income do this. And so (there are) many different types of people, there’s lots of people who do it just to supplement their day-to-day living.”

Most of the items stolen from vehicles don’t carry a large value, but even the theft of small items can be a big headache for the vehicle owner. 

“Perhaps it’s not a lot to the person who’s lost sunglasses or their duffel bag full of dirty gym strip or something like that,” Shelkie said, “but when a wallet is stolen and they have to reapply for the driver’s license and the credit card, they have to cancel the credit card and it’s already been used, and now they have to go through the fraud section of Visa or MasterCard or whatever it’s a really big inconvenience, so there’s a personal price that’s paid when you leave your vehicle unlocked.”