Minneapolis police say drivers are giving thieves too many opportunities to swipe vehicles as hundreds of autos were stolen just in the month of January so far, a level the department calls “abnormally high.”

The police department says of the 262 auto thefts so far in 2020 — almost 73 percent were left running.

In three cases, children were in the running vehicles that were taken.

The children were found, one had minor injuries.

Minneapolis police spokesperson John Elder said that the thefts are happening all over the city.

And in most cases people left keys in cars.

"I don't know if people are just getting lazier, or people just think that no one is going to think to look in my visor or my cup holder or my center console for my keys," Elder said.

The stolen vehicles sometimes are involved in other crimes, including robberies, as well as crashes.

Elder said officers are having to respond to preventable crimes that distract them from other 911 calls.

"There's a lot of work that goes into one stolen vehicle,” Elder said. “And so that is frustrating for our folks when we have 911 calls that we're not able to send cars off to right away."

The police department and the Minneapolis Downtown Council plan to launch an awareness campaign that could include billboards.

Officers are able to cite drivers who leave vehicles running and unattended. Remote starts are allowed as long as the vehicle can’t be driven away without a fob.

Elder did not have an explanation for why so many people are not turning off and locking their autos. He said the weather has been warmer than last year, though such thefts tend to be more common in the winter when cars are left to warm.

The department also says delivery people may also be victims of the thefts.

In 2019, a total of 2,870 vehicles were stolen in Minneapolis, an almost 30 percent increase from 2018.