RCPD director: crimes involving property stolen from vehicles on the rise

According to Dennis Butler, Riley County Police Department director, the number of crimes involving the theft of property from vehicles is up.

He says a good way to prevent this is by either locking the doors or hiding items that are inside the car.

“Less than 10 percent of the cars that were broken into were damaged so usually, if a door is locked, the thief is going to move on,” Butler said. “That’s why we encourage people to lock their doors. In our motor-vehicle thefts, the number of cars that were stolen – a full third of them were unlocked when they were stolen.”

He says this crime trend is particularly troubling when it involves stolen firearms.

“We’re seeing more and more of these thefts occur, which is really troubling to me, because if you’ve got a 15-year-old breaking into cars and taking firearms, that’s a concern,” Butler said.

For those who store firearms in their vehicles, Butler suggests using a gun safe.