Vancouver sees spike in auto thefts could see 3,000 by end of year
By SPENCER THOMAS
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VANCOUVER, Washington (KPTV) — The Vancouver Police Department says it’s seen 123 car thefts in the month of January alone.
FOX 12 spoke with Vancouver Police Department Public Information Officer, Kim Kapp, who says, “we’re going to be at around 3,000 if we don’t have any changes in that statistic.”
The Clark County Sheriff’s Office sent out a release stating it’s seen striking numbers in the triple digits. The office tracked auto theft over a 19-day period in one single area of the county, and 23 vehicles were stolen in the Orchard vicinity.
Kapp says in the winter months they see a major uptick in auto theft due to people leaving their cars running to warm up in the driveway which makes for an easy target.
“It really only takes one experienced thief, and less than a minute to break into a car that’s locked. But what would it take to take a car that’s running and already ready to go? It would take seconds,” says Kapp.
She went on to say that practicing easy crime prevention methods to “harden your target,” is key. Be sure to park in a lit area, remove eye-catching items from your car before going inside and get in the habit of locking your doors.
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