Vehicle theft, break-ins, on the rise in Edmonton

Theft of vehiclesand theft from vehicles is on the rise in Edmonton, police say.

Vehicle-related crime is up 20per cent across the city this year.

Police are urgingEdmontoniansto remove thetemptationforthieves by removing valuables, locking doors, and keeping their eyes on their own vehicles as well as their neighbour's.

"You can liken it to fishing if you will," saidSgt. SteveSharpe. "If someone goes into a certain area and they have no luck, they'reprobably less likely to return to that area.

"When we talk to people and say, 'If you can take those steps of removing valuables, reducing the reward, that'll go a long way to reducing not only your vulnerability as a motor vehicle owner, but even yourneighbourhood's.'"

Police are using a new strategy oforganizingvolunteers to canvas their neighbourhoods to raise awareness.

"We believe this is a shared community concern and we feel citizens can really take some ownership over this," Sharpe said.

This year police recorded4,012 vehicle break-ins so far, compared to 3,359 in 2014

So far in 2015, 2,032 vehicles were reported stolen compared to 1,632 last year.