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Reno Police See Uptick In Vehicle Burglaries

Jon Collier, Flickr, (CC by SA 2.0)

The Reno Police Department is seeing a dramatic uptick in car burglaries throughout the city. 

During the first quarter of this year, reported incidents of vehicle thefts have increased 26 percent compared to 2015.

The Reno Police Department says in the vast majority of cases, victims left valuables in plain sight or left their cars unlocked.

Tim Broadway is a spokesman for the department.

"Unfortunately, because Reno is a very transient town ... we'll have transients go in different areas that will just test neighborhoods — some of the quiet, nicer neighborhoods — to see if people who have that false sense of security, who do leave their doors unlocked."

He says better weather could also play a factor.

"Recently, the weather hasn't been extremely bad, so it's been pretty tolerable at nighttime, so we've been seeing these during the late evening hours."

Besides locking your vehicle and stowing valuables from sight, Broadway encourages residents to report suspicious activity.

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Julia Ritchey is a former reporter at KUNR Public Radio.