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Last updated on Friday, August 28, 2015
(BLOOMINGTON) - Despite Bloomington Police Department’s advisory last week about theft from vehicles, there have been 30 more reported incidents since the return of IU students.
According to Bloomington Police Captain Joe Qualters, the thieves stole purses,
The items targeted were purses, wallets and backpacks that were left in plain view. One victim reported the loss of over $150 in cash.
"The thieves simply smashed a window to gain entry," Qualters says. "Don't make it so easy - remove any items of value and lock your car after you do so. Police are conducting extra patrols in the affected areas, but crime prevention begins with you."
During the week of August 12th-19th, BPD took 19 reports on 19 thefts from vehicle.
Since the return of students, the week of August 19th-26th shows an increase of 57 percent with 30 reports for the same type of incident.
Most of the thefts have occurred in neighborhoods just south of campus between South Washington Street and South Ballantine Road.
Over the course of the last year, BPD received nearly 600 reports of thefts from vehicles which is nearly one-third of all theft-related incidents reported to the Department.
Of those, approximately 45 percent of the thefts were due to vehicles being left unlocked.
The Bloomington Police Department encourages everyone to practice crime prevention.
To minimize being a victim of a theft from vehicle:
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