Leave keys at the front door: Toronto police constable tells resident amid rising car theft

By our Reporter

Toronto residents are grappling with the reality of a pervasive car theft problem. Every six minutes, a vehicle is stolen in Canada, as per the Canadian Finance and Leasing Association (CFLA), which also highlighted that car theft has escalated so much so that it results in an annual cost of nearly $1 billion to the nation. However, amid this, a constable of the police service, responsible for investigating and preventing car theft, is now seen giving bizarre advice to the city residents.

While advising people on how to handle the increasing car theft problem, Toronto Police Service (TPS) Constable Marco Ricciardi, at a community safety meeting in Etobicoke, suggested car owners leave keys at the front door.

He stated, “To prevent the possibility of being attacked in your home, leave your fobs at your front door, because they’re breaking into your home to steal your car. They don’t want anything else.”

These words may confuse certain people. Notably, if reports are to be believed, the comments were only verbal and there is no official statement that corroborates with the suggestion passed by the constable of the law enforcement agency.

In order to steal cars, the criminals break into the houses to get the car keys, and this could pose a threat to life, public safety, and may result in property damages, such as a break-in through a window.

While the intention behind this advice seemed to mitigate these potentially violent confrontations during break-ins, it is not understood how effective the constable’s advice might be. Despite the ambiguity, some individuals have already adopted similar tactics. One resident reportedly left note on the vehicle to deter thieves from damaging the car. The note read that the car is unlocked.

This new bizarre advice follows previous controversial messaging from the Toronto Police, including a campaign where the law enforcement agency disclosed response times to criminals. “Since 2010, response times for Toronto Police have increased by 92 percent to a staggering 22 minutes,” read a campaign website of the police.

Following the statement, a flurry of comments pointed out that revealing the time frame could provide thieves with the exact amount of time needed to execute the crime.

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