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OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, August 6, 2009 · 10 Police advise residents to lock up Halton police are calling on residents to remember to lock their doors and windows following a series of residential breakins across Oakville last month. Police said that in July a dozen homes were broken into, with the majority of incidents occurring in the southeast end of town. Once inside various residences, the thieves targeted jewellery and small electronics such as cameras, laptops and IPODS. Det.-Sgt. Kevin Maher said it is too soon to say whether the break-ins are connected, but pointed out there are some similarities. "The one consistent thing is they're finding weak points in the home so they can get in, whether that's unlocked windows or doors, those kinds of things," he said. "This is a little different than that rash (of break and enters) in the spring where they were kicking the front doors in," said the officer. "This is a situation where we can probably prevent some of this if homeowners make sure they close and lock their windows at night," he said. Maher noted the break-ins have taken place during the day after the homeowners have gone to work, but also during night while the homeowners were "These break-ins have the potential for confrontation, but fortunately that hasn't happened yet." Det.-Sgt. Kevin Maher, Halton Regional Police asleep. It's the nighttime break-ins that most concern police. "These break-ins have the potential for confrontation, but fortunately that hasn't happened yet," said Maher. "No one has been confronted, there have been no injuries, the people slept through the actual acts." Maher advise residents to protect themselves from these kinds of break-ins by closing and locking all garage doors, ground-floor doors and windows before leaving their home or before going to bed at night. Residents should not leave spare keys to their homes in their vehicles and vehicles should be kept locked at all times. Residents who do have a garage should keep their vehicles in it and access doors from the garage to the home should be kept locked. Residents who have alarms should activate them before going to bed. Those residents who are going away on vacation should have a friend or neighbour check their home routinely. Additional crime prevention tips can be found on the Halton Regional Police Service website at www.hrps.on.ca. Click on the Community Policing tab on the homepage and scroll down to Security and Safety Tips. Halton Police Service asks anyone with information about these recent break-ins to contact the Oakville Division of the Halton Regional Police at 905825-4747, ext. 2204 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).