Calgary Police Service is reporting an uptick in suspicious activity, car prowls, and residential break-ins across Southwest Calgary. The common thread in the case notes: most incidents involved an unlocked vehicle or an open garage door.

The simplest deterrent is the one CPS has been pitching for years, the 9 p.m. routine. A 60-second walk before bed.

The checklist

  • [ ] Lock every exterior door and window. Yes, including the back door you use ten times a day.
  • [ ] Close + secure the garage door. Lock the inside door between the garage and the house too, that's often the weakest link.
  • [ ] Lock all vehicles. Including ones parked inside the garage.
  • [ ] Pull garage door openers out of every car. A stolen opener from an unlocked car parked in the driveway gets someone into your garage in seconds.
  • [ ] Turn on exterior lights or confirm the motion-activated ones are working. Replace bulbs that have died.
  • [ ] Check that home security and CCTV are actually on. Every break-in season turns up cameras that have been offline for months.
If you're going to be away more than a couple of days, ask a neighbour to keep an eye on the place, bring in flyers, move bins to the curb on collection day, that kind of thing.

Reporting

  • Non-emergency: 403-266-1234
  • Emergency / active threat: 911
  • Crime stats for your neighbourhood: data.calgarypolice.ca
If you've experienced something, even minor, please report it, and consider posting it to our community classifieds or your block's chat. Patterns only get visible if everyone shares.

More

A previous Ward 6 town hall covered this exact pattern in detail; sergeants Hurley and Lavictoire (CPS, our Community Resource Officer) work with us regularly. Crime stats site: data.calgarypolice.ca.

Source: Councillor Pantazopoulos' May 2026 Community Ward Report.