Police in North Cumbria today (03/02/12) expressed their frustration at the number of thefts that could have been prevented if people increased security.

So far in 2012 there have been 91 reported burglaries and thefts from vehicles in North Cumbria and a staggering 42 per cent of these were from homes, outbuildings and vehicles that had been left unlocked. Farms, commercial premises and even a school have also been targeted by opportunist thieves.

A total of nine insecure vehicles were stolen and a further three were broken into. Of these, three had their keys left in the ignition.

Inspector Mark Gilroy today spoke out about the trend for people leaving their property insecure, urging people to ‘lock it or lose it’.

He said: “Police work extremely hard to respond to reports of theft, to support victims and bring offenders to justice. We need to be clear, it is the offenders that are to blame here, but we need to be aware that there are opportunist thieves out there, looking for easy targets, and we can beat them at their own game by locking up and increasing security.

“Being the victim of a burglary or theft is upsetting, but even more so if you know you could have prevented it by simply locking your door.

“It can be very tempting at this time of year to leave your car unattended while you wait for it to defrost, but this acts as an open invitation to opportunist thieves, so be patient and be smart, and sit with your vehicle for the few minutes it takes to defrost.

“It can be very frustrating for police to be working so hard to reduce crime, only for incidents to increase simply because people haven’t taken the simple precaution of locking their home or car.

“The message is simple – lock it or lose it.”

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