Police in Southlake are warning residents about a recent spike in burglaries of cars, including the vehicles of parents at their child’s daycare.
“What we want to emphasize is these crimes are crimes of opportunity,” Southlake Police Department Assistant Chief Ashleigh Douglas said.
Douglas said more than a dozen similar crimes have been reported in Southlake since February. The criminal often needs only a few seconds to steal valuable items like purses, wallets and cellphones.
"The best thing you can do is take your valuables out of your car, if at all possible," she said. "If you can’t, at least hide them and lock your vehicle and make yourself less of an opportunity to become a victim."
In most instances, the vehicle that was burglarized had been left unlocked, according to Southlake police. Douglas added that people in her community — routinely regarded as one of the safest in North Texas — might be more susceptible to crimes like this people in other places.
"Southlake is a very nice place to live, and folks here have nice things. If you’re a burglar I think that is one draw to the area," Douglas said. "But I also think that we experience a very low crime rate overall in this city. And with a low crime rate sometimes comes the double-edged sword of sometimes becoming complacent and believing that those types of crime may not happen here, when, in fact, they can happen anywhere."
