Vehicle thefts in Saskatoon hit 5-year high

The number of vehicle thefts in Saskatoon shot up again last year,reachinga five-year high.

The Saskatoon Police Service recorded 1,269 car thefts in 2016, according to its latest and recently-released annual report.

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That's up by 21 per cent from 2015, when 1,047 sets of wheels were pinched.

It's also the highest number of car thefts since 2011:

• 2016: 1,269
• 2015: 1,047
• 2014: 1,152
• 2013: 1,035
• 2012: 985
• 2011: 1,455

The service says 1,400 people responded to an online survey launched in the fall of 2016 and that they provided "useful information that will help shape future prevention and enforcement strategies."

Lock-solid advice

In the meantime, the city has urged people to remember to lock up their cars, saying 60 per cent to 65 per cent of thefts happen when owners fail to lock up.

Bike thefts where the bike was worth less than $5,000 so, most bikes were also on the high side last year:

• 2016: 440
• 2015: 501
• 2014: 471
• 2013: 347
• 2012: 260
• 2011: 297

The service has launched a program where people can register their bike online so that if it's stolen and eventually found, they can prove the recovered bike is theirs.