(ST. JOHN’S, NL) – August 20, 2018 – The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC) is offering tips to the public to help safeguard personal belongings.

As people return to their routines in the coming weeks, public places that provide lockers to its patrons such as schools and recreational centers will see an increase in traffic. The RNC regularly receives complaints from the public of thefts from vehicles and lockers. This has led to fraudulent activity with bank cards and credit cards as well as the loss of other personal property. In many cases, these are crimes of opportunity and there are things you can do to protect yourself. The RNC is issuing the following tips to help safeguard personal belongings:

• When shopping and returning to your vehicles with purchases, consider getting in your vehicle and moving to another area of the parking lot;
• When placing shopping bags in your vehicle place them in the trunk or somewhere out of sight if possible;
• Even at home, do not leave valuables in plain sight in your vehicles such as purses, bags and/or laptops, phones or other electronic devices;
• Lock your vehicle doors;
• Purchase a lock for use on your locker during your leisure activities;
• Leave important or valuable belongings at home;
• If you see anything suspicious in a locker room contact the staff so they can monitor the situation;

Suspicious activities to look for:

• Individuals opening and closing numerous lockers;
• Individuals loitering in locker rooms;
• Individuals walking or loitering in heavily populated parking lots

The RNC is committed to building safer and healthier communities together.

-30-

Cst. Colin Shaw #823
Media Relations / Social Media Officer
Royal Newfoundland Constabulary
1 Fort Townshend, St. John’s, NL, A1C-2G2
Twitter: @RNC_PoliceNL
Facebook: RoyalNewfoundlandConstabulary
709-729-8658