Salt Lake Sees Large Jump In Car Burglaries During Pandemic

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Officials with the Salt Lake City Police Department said they’ve seen a 72% increase in car burglaries compared to this time last year.

Police said there were 571 burglaries reported in the past 28 days, and they believe the pandemic has pushed criminals to do their dirty deeds outdoors as COVID-19 pushed people to work from home.

“If you look at the data you can certainly speculate that could be the case,” said SLCPD officer Keith Horrocks with the Salt Lake City Police Department.

At the same time, new data-gathering tools showed the number of home burglaries has dropped.

“Back in the day, it used to be several weeks before we go ‘OK, there are a lot of car burglaries here.’ But this gives us the opportunity to look at the data in real-time,’” Horrocks said.

Last month, Salt Lake City reported 571 car break-ins.😳

A 72% increase from this time last year.

I’ll tell you where they’re happening most, and what trends police are finding behind recent crimes on @KSL5TV !

(Don’t leave things in your car!) pic.twitter.com/i5BEugQw34

— Morgan Wolfe (@MorganWolfeKSL) November 5, 2020

District 1, which is in the northwest area of Salt Lake City, is one of the hotspots for auto burglaries.

“That is one of the highest over the last 28 days. The other is District 6, which is up in Sunnyside Avenue and Foothill Drive,” Horrocks said.

He said it is always a good idea to lock your car, even in a garage.

“It doesn’t matter where your car is, because if they can get into the location where your car is, then they can get anything,” Horrocks said.

He also said police are getting daily calls reporting “smash and grabs.” That’s when a thief smashes your car window, grabs what they can and runs.

And don’t leave any valuables in your car. “It’s about making your car less of a target for criminals,” Horrocks said.