Manchester police have a simple reminder for residents – lock your car.
Police said the overwhelming majority of property thefts from cars they see are vehicles that were simply left unlocked. Now, after another jump in car break-ins, they’re hoping people will get the message to take it seriously.
“It’s definitely a good reminder, something that I don’t always remember to do, but I will be from now on,” said resident Sarah Owens.
The Manchester Police Department took to Facebook hoping humor and Bill Murray’s “Groundhog Day” will remind people to make sure their doors are locked up each night at 9 p.m. so they aren’t a target for thieves.
Police said since August 1, they’ve responded to 32 calls for car burglaries, opening investigations into more than 20 of those cases.
“I think a lot of people have a false sense of security. You just get by with life and fall into that place of security and you feel like you should be safe inside your own home
“The police would say if you leave your key in the car and it gets broken into, you’re actually assisting in the crime. I always took that seriously,” said Michael Hatzikostantis. His family lives in Manchester and said their neighbor recently had an unlocked car entered by a thief.
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Police said they’ve also seen entire cars stolen because thieves found the keys inside the vehicles. So no matter how safe you think your neighborhood is, lock those doors.
In addition to locking your car, police remind drivers to actually take the keys in and hide anything valuable that you leave in the vehicle.
