The City of Moscow sees a lot of changes when students return from a long summer to the University of Idaho. But a rise in vehicle prowls is not usually one of them, according to Moscow Police Lt. David Lehmitz.
He said vehicle prowl and burglary calls increased last August and continued to remain high throughout the remainder of 2013.
Vehicle prowl reports in Moscow tripled in the past year, which led to multiple arrests and heightened vehicle surveillance by Moscow police.
Lehmitz said MPD is still unsure of the cause of this increase. However, the people they have arrested in relation to the vehicle prowl reports have been associated with the “drug culture” in Moscow, he said.
“You can’t really put a finger on the why,” Lehmitz said. “We have made some arrests on individuals, and those individuals that are usually involved in drugs.”
Lehmitz said he is confident vehicle prowls are triggered by more than a few individuals, and possibly a larger group.
Lehmitz said MPD has taken action to increase parking lot surveillance on campus and in the community.
“We’ve got directed patrols out, we’ve got officers dedicated during the evening hours, early morning hours, specifically monitoring parking lots,” Lehmitz said. “We have really stepped up patrols, because of the high number we are seeing.”
Lehmitz said as a result of the additional patrols, the department has made contact with multiple individuals who appeared to be in the process of a vehicle prowl. He said a similar situation happened in the Theophilus Tower parking lot, where multiple individuals were walking around vehicles early in the morning.
As a part of the directed patrols, Lehmitz said officers often do patrols in unmarked vehicle and on bikes, and concentrate their resources on a particular street or set of parking lots.
Despite the rise of vehicle prowls in Moscow, there has not been a dramatic increase on the UI campus, said Patrice McDaniel, director of emergency management and security services. She said UI security services keep a list of all crimes and police activity that occur on campus.
McDaniel said security services has increased surveillance of parking lots, and sent out Facebook updates to students with suggestions for preventing car theft.
Lehmitz said the simple act of locking a car can prevent a vehicle prowl from escalating to a theft.
“A very large majority of these are unlocked vehicles, so for one, lock your car,” Lehmitz said.
Lehmitz said people should not leave expensive electronics in plain view. Instead, he said to put them in the trunk or under a seat to deter robbers from breaking in.
Ryan Tarinelli can be reached at [email protected]