Police warn residents about a recent spike in vehicle thefts

Shorewood and Whitefish Police say car thefts are up this week.

Officials say many of the thefts are crimes of opportunity because people leave their vehicles unattended while they are warming up their vehicles in the morning. 

However, there is an easy and relatively cheap device you can buy to track your vehicle called a Cal Amp. 

It can be discretely installed under your dashboard so thieves can't see it and it costs around $100.

Marques Green of Kreative Interiors started installing these devices in his customers' vehicles after noticing a trend of car thefts in the area. 

'It's a real epidemic and if a small thing that's $99 can save you $2,500 to $5,000 in damage that someone happens to have or you can not find your car there is no reason you can't find it."

James Newson owns Square Business Finance LLC. and he has these devices in his vehicles so he can track cars he finances to people in case they stop making their payments. 

"I actually had one person who stole a car from my lot. It was a situation where his lady friend couldn't pay it so she returned the car and he had an extra key and he stole it," Newson said. 

Police want to remind everyone not to leave their vehicles running and unattended because they could not only get their vehicle stolen, but the thieves could hurt someone while recklessly driving away.