The Upper Ottawa Valley OPP reminds motorists and passengers to Lock it OR Lose it when it comes to their vehicles and valuables as part of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police’s (OACP) Lock It OR Lose It campaign.
In 2016 the Upper Ottawa Valley OPP responded to 119 reports of items being stolen from motor vehicles.
So far this year, there have been 84 reported thefts from motor vehicles in the Upper Ottawa Valley OPP Detachment area.
On October 19 and October 27, auxiliary OPP officers conducted checks of vehicles parked at several locations including the Petawawa Market Mall, Pembroke’s West End Mall and East End Mall. Of the 330 vehicles checked, 38 vehicles were found to be insecure, including 35 unlocked vehicles and three vehicles with their windows down. Valuables, including several purses, were observed to be in plain view in 21 of the vehicles checked.
During the Lock It OR Lose It campaign, police officers, auxiliary officers, and crime prevention personnel will examine parked vehicles to confirm they are locked and that no valuables have been left in plain view. They place a small notice on vehicles checked indicating what safety precautions were neglected and offer simple prevention tips for drivers to protect their vehicles against theft. The notices also congratulate drivers who have secured their vehicle. The Upper Ottawa Valley OPP will use Lock It OR Lose It notices throughout the year as part of our on-going crime prevention efforts.
Motorists and passengers are also urged not to keep personal documents such as vehicle ownership, liability pink slips, credit card invoices, or other documents containing personal information in their vehicles. Identity thieves are looking for such documents so they can assume identities, secure credit card accounts, lease vehicles for export, and even take out a mortgage against victims’ properties without their knowledge.
