Spate of vehicle thefts prompts ‘lock it or lose it’ warning

Tuesday 05 April 2022

Motorists are being reminded to check their car is locked after a recent spate of thefts from vehicles.

There were 86 reports of theft relating to motor vehicles last year – including valuables stashed inside, and, in some cases, the vehicle itself.

Among those to be convicted was Paulo Cardoso, who was jailed in January for an array of offences, including thefts and attempted thefts from motor vehicles in St. Brelade, St. Peter and St. Mary last year.

In response to such incidents, Police have now launched a campaign entitled ‘Lock It or Lose It’ not to leave their vehicles unlocked and/or stash keys under the mat or sun visor, and to keep valuables out of plain site.

“Jersey is generally a safe place to live and we have probably all at some point left the car unlocked while we parked it somewhere,” St. Helier officer PC Alex Guelpa explained.

“Although, we are lucky that statistics for these sort of crimes in Jersey is relatively low compared to towns and cities in the UK, it’s always best not to be complacent and to remove any temptation for opportunist criminals.

“We’ll be putting up some colourful posters in some of the public car parks as a friendly reminder to lock your car, take your keys with you and to hide any valuables you may have left in your car.” 

Pictured: A poster put up in a local car park as part of the 'Lock It or Lose It' campaign.

The Force will also be sharing the reminder on social media.