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Car Theft Prevention Program

The RCMP in Summerland is hopeful a new program will help reduce the amount of car thefts from the area.

“A Parking Lot Audit,” is a new partnership between the Summerland RCMP and ICBC that has five community policing volunteers going through parking lots to check vehicles to ensure they are properly secured.

Sargent Rick Bigland says the numbers of car theft in Summerland has gone up since last year.

“So far in 2006 we've had eight vehicles stolen and four attempted to be stolen, as compared to the same time last year when we just had three stolen,” says Bigland.

He says the volunteers check for things such as keys left in ignitions and secondary security devices, like alarm systems. Owners of vehicles that were inspected by the volunteers will return to their car to find an informational ticket under their windshield wiper.

“The notice says that the vehicle was checked and either the following defects were noted or the vehicle was in proper order,” says Bigland.

Bigland says he hasn't received any public feedback yet, but is expecting to get some before too long.

“I expect the public will be fairly receptive to this, as they are to most crime prevention initiatives,” says Bigland.


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