It’s not that the Grand Forks Gazette is re-using old editorial material and it’s not that there aren’t a variety of other topics to discuss but people in Grand Forks, Christina Lake and area should lock their car doors.
Don’t just consider locking doors but actually lock vehicle doors; using keys or keychain devices until a beep, a click or both are heard.
While there are incidents of break-and-enters (B&E) into cars frequently reported to the local RCMP, there have been some notable items reported stolen over the past two weeks – a camera and a passport.
According to police, in both instances, doors were unlocked.
Some might be of the mind that Grand Forks is a small town, with a population of just under 4,000 (as of 2011), and everyone knows one another and as such, it is a safe place and they wouldn’t be wrong to think that.
However, just because it is considered safe, doesn’t mean there isn’t crime that takes place in the area.
According to numbers from the local RCMP, there were 48 total B&Es in Grand Forks in 2012 and 60 B&Es into cars during the same time and although a prolific offender was charged in a string of car B&Es last year, in some of the instances car doors were unlocked – making it easy pickings for anyone wanting to enter and steal.
The situation is similar to a parent telling children to lock both ways before they cross the street. The child doesn’t necessarily or initially listen to the parent but the advice is sound and just like the “lock your car doors” refrain it needs to be followed.
Yes Grand Forks and the Christina Lake area are safe places to live by all accounts and yes, it seems like everyone knows one another but it isn’t a hard task to make sure doors of vehicles, whether it is cars, trucks or the like, are locked.
Police have been asking people to lock their car doors seemingly forever and it may seem annoying that the topic is constantly being mentioned and many likely want to stop hearing it.
If more people heed the advice, it will.
– Grand Forks Gazette