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Vehicle security to be highlighted during program next week

Apr 20, 2018 | 5:37 AM

Grande Prairie Crime Prevention will be looking to educate vehicle owners on if they are an easy target for people with sticky fingers. 

Public Education and Events Coordinator Cheryl George says the GP H.E.A.T. (Help End Auto Theft) program is initiated a few times a year. It launched in December 2016 due to an increased amount of theft from and of vehicles in the city that year. 

“The Crime Prevention staff and volunteers, Enforcement Services, and RCMP members will go to different areas in the city and they will walk the parking lots. They will look at the vehicles and assess if they are an easy target or a hard target for theft,” said George. 

According to George, purses, electronics, lottery tickets, and money that can be seen from the window makes a vehicle an “easy target”. 

Past areas the volunteers have tackled include the mall parking lot. Once the vehicle has been assessed, the vehicle owner will be left a note. 

“They are placed on every vehicle and they are face down. The notice says if they were a hard or easy target on the front part. if it was easy, there will an explanation like “don’t leave your purse laying on the console” or “put your phone away”. Those notices are slipped under the windshield wiper of the car.”

Locations that the organization will be targeting will be announced Monday. The crews will be heading out the selected areas from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 24 and Wednesday, April 25.