EDMONTON – The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) is pleading with owners of pre-2008 Ford F-250 and F-350 trucks to use steering wheel locks or install alarm systems to protect their parked vehicles.
Police say the larger models in the Ford F-series, specifically those built before 2008, are being stolen more and more often in the city.
The EPS wants to stress to owners that they need to properly alarm or lock their steering wheel column of their trucks. Police say thieves have found ways of overriding the standard locking devices in older models.
Since the beginning of 2013, 184 F-250 and F-350 trucks have been stolen within city limits. Police say that accounts for slightly more than one per day. In rural areas, the number almost doubles.
F-series trucks are among the top four most commonly stolen vehicles across Canada for 2012.
In Alberta, eight of the top ten most stolen vehicles are Ford F-series trucks. The remaining two spots go to the Dodge Neon and the Acura Integra.
Police are not just worried about the theft itself.
“While the truck thefts alone are highly troubling, what makes these crimes a higher risk to the community is they are generally stolen by drug addicted property criminals, who are more likely to engage the police in reckless and highly dangerous pursuits,” says Acting Insp. Malcolm Allan, EPS Downtown Division. “While we do our utmost to maintain public safety in these instances, there is an increasing trend of these vehicles being driven at extremely high rates of speed and in the most dangerous fashion, whether police are actively pursuing them or not.”
In addition, when an arrest is made in connection to truck thefts, police are finding a “disturbing increase of drugs and loaded firearms in the trucks.”
Police say owners can contact a local Ford dealer or vehicle alarm store to arrange an installation of an alarm system. The Club steering wheel column lock can be bought at most retail stores.
Comments