Preventing and Reporting Property Crime
Property crime costs Canadians millions of dollars every year. Most of these crimes are break and enter and theft of or from vehicles, and many of these crimes are preventable. There are many things you can do to protect yourself from becoming a victim of property crime and many resources available to help you.
Theft from vehicles
The most common reason that a vehicle may be chosen for theft is that the owner or passengers forget to lock their doors. As obvious as it may seem, it is often the simple acts of prevention that make the biggest difference to whether your car is broken into, or not.
The Ottawa Police Service offers many safety tips to help you protect your vehicle and its contents, including:
- Remove parcels from view
- Never leave your keys in an unattended vehicle, even when running a quick errand
- Always lock the doors and roll up the windows tightly
- Park in well lit areas with pedestrian traffic and facing the street; anyone tampering with it is more likely to be seen
- If you have a garage, use it and remember to lock both the vehicle and garage
You can learn more about how to protect the contents of your vehicle and your vehicle from theft at:
If your car is broken into or stolen, you should call the police immediately.
Break and enter
One way to help protect your home from break and enter is to use the Ottawa Police Service’s FREE home security inspection service. The service involves a police representative who will visit your home and run a safety audit. The audit is based on a checklist of home security features, and you will be provided with a booklet that identifies safety improvements, provides crime prevention tips and promotes other crime prevention initiatives offered by the OPS.
The OPS website offers other resources for home security, including Tips for Buying Alarm Systems, and Crime Prevention for the Home at http://www.ottawapolice.ca/en/CrimePrevention/HSI.aspx.
Crime Prevention Ottawa also provides safety tips in its publication “Safety and Security in Rental Buildings: An Information Guide for Ottawa’s Residential Landlords”
