Alert over sat-nav and dash cam thefts from cars in Chesterfield as people stay home

Sat-navs and dashcams appear to have been taken from vehicles in Brockwell, Newbold, Whittington Moor and the town centre.

There have been a total of six reports since Friday 3 April, on Greenside Avenue and Highfield Lane in Newbold, on Fairfield Road at Brockwell and on Malkin Street and Soresby Street in the town centre.

The most recent took place around 12.50am today (Tuesday 14 April) on Avenue Road, Whittington Moor. A dashcam and a rucksack was stolen.

We would also like to appeal for anyone who may have noticed anything suspicious, or with information, to contact us.

Sergeant Matt Adams, of the local Safer Neighbourhood policing team, said: “We’ve had a number of reports of valuables being taken from vehicles, especially sat-navs and dashcams over the last few weeks while the government-imposed restrictions are in place.

“Please be extra vigilant by making sure that your cars are secure and that items are removed so that any opportunist thieves are not successful in taking your belongings.”

There are a number of steps you can take to help reduce the risk of becoming a victim of this type of crime, which include:

• Always locking your car whenever you leave it parked, even if just for a short while, and close your windows.
• Remove all valuables, especially sat-navs, dash cams, mobile phones, laptops, sunglasses, bags, coins or electrical items.
• Take down and hide any mounts for equipment such as sat-navs or mobile phones, and rub out any suction cup marks on windows.
• Park in well-lit and busy areas. If you do not have a drive then make sure your car is left in a well-lit area, preferably one with security cameras nearby.
• Protect your tools. If you must leave your tools in your van overnight then make sure they are security marked, and you have a record of any serial numbers.
• Register your belongings on immobilise.com, the UK's free national property register so that equipment can be traced back to its owner if it is recovered.

If you have any information which could help our inquiries please contact us using one of the following non-emergency contact methods.

Please quote the reference number 20*191242 and name of the officer in the case in any correspondence.

• Facebook – send us a private message to /DerbyshireConstabulary
• Twitter – direct message our contact centre on @DerPolContact
• Website – complete the online contact form www.derbyshire.police.uk/Contact-Us.
• Phone – call us on 101.

You can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Please note in the event of an emergency you should always call 999.