Saanich police are reminding the public to remove anything of value from their vehicles such as shopping bags, cash, wallets/purses, electronic devices and backpacks.
Acting Sgt. Jereme Leslie issued this appeal after a local property management firm alerted residents living in three buildings near Uptown Mall about what it called a "spike" in car break-ins through a posted flyer.
"Please be advised that there has been a spike in reported visitor's area car break-ins," it read. "Most break-ins report a similar pattern of a car window being smashed and someone entering the vehicle looking for valuables."
Firm Management Corporation said in the flyer dated March 8 that security patrols are on site and police have received security footage. "However, we are not able to completely prevent this type of activity so as a reminder to residents, please remind your guests not to leave anything in their cars while visiting the building."
Addresses listed in the flyer were 894 and 898 Vernon Ave. and 899 Darwin Ave.
"At those exact addresses, there have been four [thefts] from vehicles this year," said Leslie. "There were two separate dates that the thefts occurred. I can tell you we attended, investigated and even collected potential evidence from the scene, which has been forwarded to our Forensic Identification Section."
Overall, cases of theft from vehicles are actually down 19 per cent for the whole municipality, from year to date last year, said Leslie.
Bonnie McCulloch, senior property manager with Firm Management, declined to answer questions about the break-ins.