In the last week, officers have noticed a slight increase in car key burglaries and officers are working closely with neighbouring police forces and increasing patrols at key locations throughout the county to disrupt the activity of would-be car thieves.
David Whitehouse, Head of Community Protection said “The stolen cars may be used to commit further crimes so it is extremely important that we work closely with the public now to help reduce further thefts.
“If you own a high value or high performance car such as an Audi, BMW or Subaru, please review your home security, consider fitting tracking devices and lock the car away in a garage when not in use. Most importantly, please do not put yourself in danger when confronted by car thieves.
“We have visited the owners of forty Audi RS4's to offer crime prevention advice and support. However it's not just Audis that are being targeted and information packs are available for anyone who is concerned."
Over the years motor vehicle manufacturers have made security a priority and now thieves are finding it harder to steal such vehicles in the conventional ways. With improved locking devices and sophisticated alarm systems the car keys have become as valuable as the vehicles.
Although Warwickshire remains a low crime area we are keen to work with car owners to reduce the chance of them becoming a victim. There are a number of ways that the thief will try and obtain the keys to the vehicle. A car key burglary is one of those ways.
Car Key Burglaries:
This is where the house is broken into in order to steal the keys. Entry to the house can be as a result of following the driver into the house and grabbing the keys from the table, work surface etc. It may be that the keys are left on open display near a window or door, and so the window or door is forced to gain entry, quite often keys are fished out via the letter box from the hall table etc. In exceptional circumstances forced entry has been gained to the house and violence or threats of violence has been offered to the victim in order to obtain the keys. In some cases more than one vehicle has been stolen in the offence.
