An investigation into a sharp increase in break and enters in Calgary has resulted in 600 charges and the recovery of nearly $850,000 in stolen property over the past six months.

Police say in the first nine months of this year, break and enters in the city were up 39 percent from the five year average.

Calgary police set up two centralized Break and Enter Teams to look into commercial and residential break-ins and say they are increasingly linked to stolen vehicle and drug crimes.

“We are seeing a connection in this type of crime, what we call acquisitive crime, in relation to this type of crime and drug offences and drug types of activity,” said Inspector Mike Bossley of the CPS Investigative Operations Section. “You’ve seen recently in the news, incidents that were highly dynamic situations for the police to deal with around stolen motor vehicles, those kinds of things, so it’s endangering everyone, the police, the community, you know, those incidents, especially when you mix drugs into all of that, a highly, dynamic, dangerous situation.”

The teams are able to efficiently detect cases that may be connected, identify suspects and return stolen property to the rightful owners.

“In 2015 and 2016, we saw a dramatic increase in the number of break and enters in those two years and that was partly what brought it to our attention as well, is the focus on recognizing that we saw such a dramatic increase in such a short period of time and ultimately allowed us to reallocate our resources in order to more effectively address it,” said Inspector Bossley.

Together the two teams have investigated 272 cases and most recently conducted operations targeting parkade and garage break and enters, residential break and enters and the recovery of stolen property.

Police say 18 individuals are facing charges related to a number of different incidents that happened over the past few months:

Two operations were concluded on the week of November 21, 2016, in connection with the theft of items through online classifieds. 10 charges were laid against three people, and $10,000 worth of property was recovered.

On November 25, 2016, police executed 40 warrants and laid 14 charges against 10 people in connection with a series of downtown parkade break and enters.

On December 1, 2016, an operation looking into over 50 garage break and enters resulted in a search warrant being executed on a home in the 700 block of McDougall Court N.E. where police recovered about $75,000 worth of stolen items. 10 charges were laid against three people, but the investigation is still ongoing.

On Monday December 5, the teams were called to investigate a series of commercial smash and grabs. Two people were arrested in connection with the incidents and eight charges were laid.

Investigators say in about half of the incidents the offenders gained access through unlocked doors.

“Obviously that makes it that much easier for people to access your vehicle or access your home,” said Bossley. “The break and enters are occurring across our city in all communities so that’s why I think the message is so important for people to recognize that it is happening, likely in their community as well, and to be part of that solution by helping us by ensuring that they don’t leave their cars running with their doors unlocked, ensuring that they lock their detached garages and their homes when they’re not at home.”

Mike Armstrong called police after someone broke into his attached garage in Lake Bonavista and says officers told him they were stepping up patrols in the area but he thinks people need to do their part.

“There’s all sort of small, little steps that we can do to prevent the crime of opportunity and then the police can spend their time on the crimes that are planned,” said Armstrong. “I took steps, I’ve installed some motion lights and we’re now locking our garage door and doing the things that we should’ve done.”

Police are reminding residents to:

Remove garage door openers from vehicles parked near your home

Secure all door and windows, even while you’re at home

Store keys in an unlikely spot and not in an easily accessible area near your front door

Form a good relationship with your neighbours so you can look out for each other

Never leave keys inside an unattended vehicle, especially when you are warming up the engine in cold weather

Any suspicious activity or people can be reported to police immediately by calling 403-266-1234. Crimes in progress should be reported to the authorities by calling 911.