Calgary vehicle break-ins surge to nearly 1,000 per month: See how often thieves hit your community

Residential break-ins in Calgary have trended downward from their peak in the summer of 2015 but, at the same time, thefts from vehicles have continued to rise, according to police data.

Over the past year on record, the city has seen an average of 972 vehicle break-ins per month.

That's more than one break-in per hour.

Meanwhile, residential break-and-entershave shrunk to an average of 323 per month, down from a high of 611 in June 2015.

Acting Staff Sgt. SeanGregson said police took steps to curb residential break-ins in response to the spike in crime two years ago, and some of the most prolific offenders have been taken off the streets.

"What we'll see is one person in particular can make a huge difference, in terms of the amount of offences," he said.

Many Calgary homeowners have taken also steps to better protect their homes, Gregsonadded.

"What we are seeing a lot more of now is the residential home security systems, and the quality of those cameras is really good," he said.

"So that's helping us link different offences and offenders to various locations, and it's giving us really good evidence, in terms of identification."

Find out which 5 Calgary communities get hit most frequently with car break-ins

7 years ago

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Residential break-ins in Calgary have trended downward from their peak in the summer of 2015 but, at the same time, thefts from vehicles have continued to rise, according to police data.

Crimes of opportunity

While homes may be harder to hit these days, Gregson said thieves continue to find easy targets in vehicles.

"Oftentimes, we're seeing the vehicles left open or, in some cases recently, we're seeing those vehicles still left running and unlocked in the morning times," he said.

"And if there's an opportunity left there, somebody's going to take advantage of it. So if we can take those opportunities away from people, it's going to help everyone in the long run."

Police advise keeping your vehicle locked and not leaving anything of value in it or at least making sure valuables aren't visible from the outside.

The recent surge in vehicle break-ins "is tied in with drug addiction," Gregson added.

"The people that we deal with quite often express to us the addiction issues they are having that are driving their offences," he said.

"They are seeking easy money to feed habits and seek out the drugs they might be addicted to."

See where the break-ins are happening

Zoom, scroll and click on this interactive map to see the number of thefts from vehicles in various Calgary communities over the past 12 months on record:

(Can't see the map? Here's a mobile link.)

Zoom, scroll and click on this interactive map to see the rate of theft from vehicles (incidents per 100,000 population) in various Calgary communities over the past 12 months on record:

(Can't see the map? Here's a mobile link.)

* Data note: These maps are based on the Calgary Police Service's community crime statistics, with population data from Calgary's 2017 civic census and there is some discrepancy between the two when it comes to precise community boundaries, especially for new or recently changed communities (e.g.: theCFB Currie-Altadore-Garrison Green-Garrison Woods area) so break-in rates in those areas should be used with caution. Some communities with very small populations have also been excluded from the maps.