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Crime & Safety

Most Car Thefts Involve Unlocked Cars

Cash, GPS units top list of items taken.

If you read the Downers Grove Police blotter reports on Patch, you know there are one or more reports of items stolen from cars almost every week.

Vehicles are left unlocked, or windows are broken to gain entry and snatch spare change, GPS units, purses and other valuables.

Downers Grove Police Sgt. Dave Bormann released car theft statistics that seem to validate the importance of locking your car and removing valuables, even if the vehicle is parked in the driveway.

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Since the beginning of 2011, 94 car thefts have been reported to the Downers Grove Police Department and 74 of those incidents involved unlocked cars. More than a third of the incidents—39—occurred in residential driveways, with another 35 taking place in parking lots. 

Cash, credit/debit cards, GPS units and purses/wallets were the most common items taken from the vehicles. Other stolen items included eight cell phones, eight power tools, five iPods, two cameras and two laptops.

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In early June, Police Chief Robert Porter reminded residents to lock and remove valuables from their unattended vehicles. Spring and summer issues of the Downers Grove Hometown Times, the village newsletter, also contained public safety messages regarding car-hopping, a slang term kids use to describe entering cars and removing property.

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