Amid the obscenely high carjacking rate across many Canadian cities, police are advising residents to leave their key fobs just inside their front door to make things easier for car thieves — and safer for themselves.
A March 10 report by City News showed Cst. Marco Ricciardi of the Toronto Police Services telling a group of residents the strategy could save their life.
“To prevent the possibility of being attacked at your home, leave your fobs at your front door. Because they are breaking into your home to steal your car. They don’t want anything else,” he said.
“A lot of them that [police] are arresting have guns. And they’re not toy guns. They’re loaded.”
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre highlighted the development by blaming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s soft-on-crime policies.
“Crime. Chaos. 8 years of Trudeau,” he said.
In certain high crime areas, police have even handed out door stops to residents because thieves are kicking so many doors down.
One video taken from a homeowner’s front porch shews balcony footage shows four masked individuals trying to kick down the homeowners door.
Trudeau acknowledges surge in auto theft
The problem has gotten so bad that a national auto theft summit was held in Ottawa last month where even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made an appearance, saying that car thieves have become “more brazen.” He also pointed out that one Oakville family had their car stolen three times.
“First things first, we need to stop these criminals who are part of gangs and organized crime,” Trudeau said. “We’re also looking at further strengthening penalties for anyone who participates in auto theft.”
Amanda Dean, vice-president of the Insurance Bureau of Canada for Ontario, said the issue has become a “national crisis” and an “epidemic in Ontario.”
She further told the Globe and Mail that auto-theft claims surpassed a billion dollars in 2022 — the first time it’s ever happened.
Of those claims, $700 million came from Ontario, $500 million of which came from the Greater Toronto Area.
