‘These crimes kind of ebb and flow a bit, but this is definitely a spike’ in Lynden

It’s been bad, Lynden Police chief John Billester said, but it could be worse. And more importantly, it’s definitely preventable.

Through August 30, Lynden Police have received 22 calls of vehicle prowls, Billester said, bringing the annual total through the first eight months to 57. The city had 54 vehicle prowls reported in 2017.

“We’ve definitely had a rash of them,” Billester said. “If you look over time, these crimes kind of ebb and flow a bit, but this is definitely a spike.”

Lynden residents on the social media site NextDoor have been warning their neighbors about cars that have been victimized — and encouraging them to call police if they have been victimized.

“It’s bad enough to have somebody you don’t know go through your car and take some of your personal items, especially those tied to your finances, like your bank card or your checkbook, or even your passport,” Billester said.

“But it’s even worse when you come back and find they smashed your window, and you’ve got all this glass to clean up and have to pay to get it fixed.”

The thing is, many of the victims have no glass to clean up. Many of the vehicles were left unlocked.

The small city known for basketball, dairy farms, raspberries, windmills and churches on just about every other corner has seen an “uptick in vehicle prowls,” Billester said, but the majority of those crimes are preventable.

Residents can help make them go away just by locking their car doors and removing valuables from their cars.

“Most of these seem to be opportunistic situations,” Billester said. “Unlocked doors, purses and wallets just sitting there — easy access. In very few instances are we seeing broken windows and cars actually broken into.

“These are just crimes of opportunity. It’s very easy to open an unlocked door, take what you want and move on.

For that reason, Lynden police are asking residents to make sure they lock their cars and remove valuables.

“Remove the opportunity,” Billester said.

This story was originally published August 31, 2018 at 2:29 PM.