For the third year in a row, Calgary police will be working to raise awareness of the risk of leaving your vehicle warming up in front of your home.
Operation Cold Start is a crime prevention strategy employed by the CPS where officers patrol different communities to find vehicles that are easy targets for criminals.
When found, officers take some time to speak with the resident about how quickly vehicles can be stolen and what other crimes can be committed with a stolen vehicle.
According to police, there were 5,938 passenger vehicles stolen in Calgary last year or just over 16 vehicles per day.
The CPS says residents still feel disconnected from the statistics.
“Many people believe that their vehicle isn’t going to be stolen because they live on a quiet street or are only leaving it unattended for a minute,” says Staff Sergeant Graeme Smiley of the CPS District Support Unit in a release.
“However, the reality is that we see these type of vehicle thefts all across the city and it only takes a couple of seconds to happen.”
Approximately 40 percent of all the stolen vehicles that were recovered in 2018 had suffered some damage or were involved in a crash.
2019’s Operation Cold Start will run from January 28 to February 1 and daily statistics will be posted online.
