Video
Police issue warning about deliberately leaving cars unlocked
Police have warning against leaving cars unlocked. - Credit: Archant
Police are warning residents against deliberately leaving their cars unlocked to stop property damage.
Officers say residents of St Albans are routinely leaving their vehicles insecure in a misguided attempt to stop opportunist thieves from smashing their windows.
However, the statistics show that out of 26 thefts over the three weeks up to November 20, only two windows were broken.
In nineteen of these cases the vehicles had been left unlocked. Sixteen of them were in St Albans, seven in London Colney, and three in Harpenden.
Stolen items from secure vehicles include power tools, number plates, and vehicle parts.
Harpenden Rural Safer Neighbourhood Sgt Jordon Fox said: “The truth is the majority of our offenders don’t want to get caught by breaking glass when they can easily find a car that is unlocked.”
Herts police has released footage of an opportunist offender trying car doors, to try and persuade people against this tactic.
Most Read
- 1 Rapist jailed for 15 years after kidnapping teen in Hemel Hempstead
- 2 Armed police seize machete from Sandpit Lane in St Albans
- 3 Elderly woman chased knife-wielding stranger from her bedroom
- 4 Hertfordshire teen bullying victim given royal honour
- 5 Police probe into death of man in 20s at 'Kinky Towers' in Hertfordshire
- 6 Every household in the UK to get £400 to help with rising energy bills
- 7 Explained: What the cost of living support package means for you
- 8 Platinum Jubilee: Hertfordshire's royal visits in pictures
- 9 Council confirms first monkeypox case in Hertfordshire
- 10 St Albans Pub Pride: Why we need to tackle monkeypox prejudice
Sgt Fox added: “If residents locked their cars and removed laptops, phones, cash and other valuables, we could reduce thefts from motor vehicles by as much as 80 to 90 per cent.”