The next person to peer into your car looking for valuables may be a Dunedin police officer.
Under a new prevention strategy, frontline officers have been identifying vehicles in the city more likely to lure offenders.
They have been ascertaining whether vehicles were left unlocked and if valuables left in cars were in sight.
Where officers found a vehicle likely to tempt thieves, they tried to locate owners to warn them.
Police wanted to spread the message throughout the community about vehicles being easy targets for offenders.
Sergeant Damion Rangitutia said police continued to receive reports of items being stolen from vehicles.
Police officers were spending more time in communities, putting information pamphlets in letterboxes and knocking on doors to make sure people knew the risks and how to mitigate against them, he said.
It was important vehicles were locked and any valuables inside were hidden from view.
Ideally, people would remove all valuables from vehicles before leaving them unattended, police said.
