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As with many communities we have seen an increase in bike thefts, porch piracy, car ransacking, and home/garage break-ins. Our neighbourhood safety committee along with the Calgary Police have some tips to protect your property and goods.
To stave off bike thefts:
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Register your bike on the non-profit bikeindex.org
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Use 2 U-locks (not cheap ones) or a U-lock and a heavy-duty cable, and secure bike to an immovable object, even if the bike is in your garage
To mitigate the stealing of porch packages:
- Have the parcels delivered to a work address, or to the house of someone you know will be home
- Ask to have parcels held at the post office
- Ship parcels to the store for pick-up
- Require a signed confirmation of parcel
Car Ransacking:
- Lock your car doors; and make sure everything of value is out of car or in truck out of sight—particularly your garage door opener and extra set of keys.
- Unlock car doors; make sure everything of value is out of car or in trunk out of sight; and put a sign on car that says nothing of value in here.
- Keep your key fobs at least 50 feet away from your car when you place them in the house.
- Park in bright light, and get a good front-of-house motion detector. But make sure the motion sensor is placed high enough on your house so the bulb can’t be reached and unscrewed.
- Advertise the security system of your car. Even if you don’t have one, slap up a sticker.
- Some prowlers are turned off by blinking lights on cars’ dashboards, which indicate a tracking device. (Dollarama has reasonable facsimiles thereof…)
- Tempted as you may be, do not booby trap your vehicle. You could end up in jail rather than the thief.
Home and Garage Break-ins:
The Calgary Police service offers the following CPTED (Crime Prevention through Environmental Design) tips online. Learn more.
CPS stresses the importance, no matter how minor the theft, of reporting it, and any suspicious neighbourhood activity/people, by calling 403-266-1234 (911 in an emergency). Documentation of ALL crime is crucial in making the case for additional resources.
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