April is Auto Crime Enforcement Month

Did you know that a vehicle is broken into every twelve minutes in British Columbia?

Theft of vehicles and theft from vehicles files in Fort St John have risen in 2025 over 2024. In 2024, between January 1 and March 31, Fort St John saw 28 theft of vehicle files and 36 theft from vehicle files. This year, from January 1 to March 31, Fort St John saw the theft of vehicle files rise to 47 files and the theft from vehicles rise to 40 files.

April has been designated as Auto Crime Enforcement Month in British Columbia. The Integrated Municipal Provincial Auto Crime Team (IMPACT) with its partners at the Government of British Columbia and ICBC champion this initiative with this years theme being "Re-THINK".  The goal is to empower vehicle owners with knowledge to better protect themselves and their vehicles from becoming victims of crimes of opportunity.    

Here is how the acronym can help us RETHINK about how we leave our vehicle:
R - Remove valuables
E - Eliminate opportunities for thieves
T - Track your car with GPS technology
H - Hide your key signal
I - Invest in anti-theft devices
N - Never idle unattended
K - Keep track of your keys

Auto theft is a crime of opportunity, said Sergeant Jaime Moffat, Detachment Commander for the Fort St John RCMP. Simple steps like, locking your doors, removing valuables and never leaving your vehicle running can make a big difference in lowering the incidents of this nature.

The Fort St John RCMP request the public partner with police and report any suspicious incidents you may see when it comes to auto theft and theft from vehicles in efforts to work together to ensure there is a downward trend in this type of crime.

For more information on how you can best protect your vehicle from theft (both of the vehicle and of its contents) visit http://www.baitcar.com/prevention.