Lock it or lose it

With Christmas shopping now in full swing, police are reminding stressed-out shoppers about one of the dangers of the season.

Hamilton Police say about half of the vehicles they check in mall parking lots are easy targets for thieves. So as of tomorrow, volunteers and police in Hamilton and across the rest of the province will be blitzing the parking lots.

If they see a car that isn’t locked or hasn’t taken the right steps to turn them away, they’ll leave a flyer telling the driver where they went wrong.

“What we’re telling people is to lock it or lose it. Lock your car or you’re gong to lose it. The idea is keep the windows up. Keep your vehicle locked. Don’t leave your keys in the ignition and most important take all the valuables in your car and lock them in the trunk, or take them with you because if they see them in the vehicle they’re going to be stolen.”

And if you’ve done the right thing, you could be getting the section at the bottom checked off: vehicle locked, keys removed, windows closed, valuables out of sight – congratulations!

Video: Evening News coverage: