It’s one of the most reported crimes in Wichita, and you can prevent it.

One of the most reported crimes in Wichita is also one of the easiest to prevent.

Nearly every day police talk to people who report their vehicles were broken into and items stolen. Most of the time, their doors were left unlocked or valuable items were left in the open.

“Hide your items, take your keys and lock your vehicle,” Wichita police Sgt. Trevor McDonald said. “I don’t know how better to explain it.”

That is especially important during the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, when people are out shopping — sometimes at multiple stores in one day.

“A lot of break-ins we have are people simply going from store to store and leaving an item in their backseat that is visible to anybody that goes by,” McDonald said. “A window is broken out or the door is unlocked. We’ve become so busy in this world that we’ve forgotten to have situational awareness. We’re not asking people to be paranoid, but we’re asking for people to look up from their phone, communicate with their neighbors and lock their doors.”

Thieves are people of opportunity. If they don’t see anything worth their effort and a door is locked, they likely won’t waste their time, McDonald said.

“They’re thieves for a reason; they’re lazy people,” he said.

There is an increase of car break-ins during the holiday season, but statistically it’s not overwhelming.

“Do we see such an amazing increase that there should be widespread panic in the street, no,” he said.

If you take a look at some neighborhood Facebook groups, or at the website NextDoor, you might see a different picture. Maybe panic is too exaggerated of a term, but residents in Wichita are definitely noticing more vehicle break-ins.

“Do those groups help? I don’t know,” McDonald said. “But it’s always a good thing for neighbors to communicate with each other.”

This year, thefts from vehicles with under $1,500 worth of items stolen has increased about 3.8 percent compared to the same time in 2016.

“That’s about 558 cases,” McDonald said. “It’s not as much as of an increase as we’ve seen nationally.”

Wichita police records show that overall, vehicle break-ins resulting in thefts haven’t seen increasing or decreasing trends:

▪ 4,569 larcenies from vehicles were reported in 2012

▪ 4,596 larcenies from vehicles were reported in 2013

▪ 4,414 larcenies from vehicles were reported in 2014

▪ 3,553 larcenies from vehicles were reported in 2015

▪ 4,024 larcenies from vehicles were reported in 2016.

It’s hard to say what thieves most often take from cars. It can be phone chargers, loose change or anything they can sell or trade — sometimes for drugs.

“We had a case some years ago where there was a retail outlet bag in the backseat and a window was broken out and the bag was stolen,” McDonald said. “All that was in it was trash. There was no reason for anybody to steal that. It was full of nothing.”

But, the thief saw the writing on the bag and likely thought they’d get some brand new merchandise, McDonald said.

Car break-ins can happen anywhere and take just seconds, he said. They don’t only occur at night or in just one area of town.

“Take that second to just lock your door,” McDonald said.

This story was originally published November 27, 2017 at 12:14 PM with the headline "It’s one of the most reported crimes in Wichita, and you can prevent it.."