The increasing number of car burglaries in Parkland, most of them involving vehicles left unlocked by owners, came up for discussion at a City Commission workshop Wednesday.
Vice Mayor Jared Moskowitz wanted police and city staff to come up with some educational program to make residents aware of the need to prevent such soft crimes.
"Crime has increased in Parkland over the last couple of years," he said. "We will be able to bring the number of incidents down if people are more careful about keeping their vehicles locked and garage doors closed."
Broward Sheriff's Office Chief Paul O'Connell said the police would continue educating residents. "We will put up message boards in various parts of the city," he said. "The good news is that Parkland had the second smallest rate of crime among cities in Broward last year."
Mayor Michael Udine said he was not as concerned about crimes that happened due to carelessness of individuals as he was about other crimes. "Adding more police officers is not going to stop such crimes," Udine said. "We need individuals to take responsibility."