The Washington Police Department has had an especially busy last couple months with calls including thefts from vehicles and assaults.

This September the department responded to 523 calls for service, and in August they had 521 calls, eight of them pertaining to domestic assault resulting in six incident reports. Chief Jim Lester says they’ve received several calls for weapons stolen from vehicles lately, and gives this advice on how to prevent vehicle and other thefts, “Lock your door, turn on exterior lights, anything you can do to protect your valuables. The first step is to remove those valuables from the vehicles, especially handguns. We’ve had several reports of handguns stolen that were left in unlocked vehicles.”

Lester reminds that the department’s Community Camera Program can be a valuable resource in investigating thefts and other crimes happening at residences or businesses. The program encourages residents and property owners to register their home security/surveillance camera systems. This doesn’t give the officers remote access to the camera systems, but getting registered can help them locate nearby cameras to criminal activity and then request to view footage. To sign up visit here.