PREVENTING A THEFT FROM YOUR VEHICLE
Most crimes are completed because a criminal observes an opportunity where they perceive the risk to be low and the benefit to be high. This commonly occurs when citizens leave valuables in their vehicle out in plain sight. Most criminals do not want to take the time and risk of breaking into a vehicle and searching for valuables that may or may not be there. They like a sure thing. There are enough vehicles around that have valuables in plain sight, so by you taking the extra few seconds to hide that cell phone, laptop, video game, purse, etc, you’ve just raised the risk level for a criminal to a level they most likely are not willing to take. They will move on to another vehicle that is an easier target.

Also, leaving your keys in your vehicle while running, invites criminals to steal your vehicle. Due to the potentially dangerous situation this creates, the Village of West Salem enacted an ordinance 6.05(a) making it a violation of village ordinance to leave your keys in an unattended car, whether the ignition is running or not. For more information or answers to your questions, feel free to contact us anytime.