Toronto police sparked outrage after advising residents to leave their car keys at the front door and let thieves take their vehicles.
The shocking news comes as car thefts have soared 150 percent over six years in Canada’s largest city, forcing residents to hide their cars in secret locations and fortify them with 24-hour security.
On a recent community safety city council meeting held in Etobicoke, Toronto Police Service (TPS) Constable Marco Ricciardi addressed the issue and offered his controversial tip.
‘To prevent the possibility of being attacked in your home, leave your fobs at your front door because thieves break into homes solely to steal cars. They don’t want anything else, Ricciardi said.
This bizarre advice has left residents and social media users outraged, with many attributing the rampant car theft to lax bail and sentencing rules under Justin Trudeau’s administration.
Toronto police sparked outrage after Constable Marco Ricciardi (pictured) advised residents to leave their car keys at the front door and let thieves take their vehicles
The shocking news comes as car thefts have soared 150 percent over six years in Canada’s largest city, forcing residents to hide their cars in secret locations and fortify them with 24-hour security. Pictured: a car theft in Ontario’s Richmond Hill back in August
This bizarre advice has left residents and social media users furious, with many attributing the rampant car theft to lax bail and sentencing rules under Justin Trudeau’s administration
Ricciardi said residents could avoid potential home invasions by leaving car tags at front doors, suggesting these break-ins can be violent and life-threatening.
‘Many of those who (the police) arrest have weapons on them. And they are not toy guns. They are real weapons, they are loaded, he said at the meeting.
One social media user wrote: ‘Just leave the damn car driving at the end of your driveway. Why make them walk all the way up to the front door? You h!’
Another person chimed in by saying: ‘It’s a slippery slope because next time it will be suggested to leave petrol money too.’
A flurry of comments point out that advising individuals to give their keys to armed thieves does not make sense and can lead to much more serious consequences.
One user wrote: ‘Let them have your car because they have guns. We knew it would happen. The next thing will be keeping your doors unlocked and wife, girlfriend or 10-year-old daughter ready to be gang-raped at home.’
Toronto residents have gone to great lengths to protect their vehicles, as an estimated 90,000 cars are stolen each year in the city.
Ricciardi said residents could avoid potential home invasions by leaving car tags at front doors, suggesting these break-ins can be violent and life-threatening
Critics have cited lax laws from Justin Trudeau, who have in turn blamed the former Conservative government
“A catchy slogan will not stop car theft,” the octogenarian prime minister told the February 8 conference, addressing allies, Conservative rivals and a number of police officers
Meanwhile, car thefts are up across the board in Canada’s provinces — 50 percent in Quebec, 48 percent in Ontario, 34 percent in Atlantic Canada and 18 percent in Alberta — costing residents about $1.2 billion a year.
That doesn’t include the fees for private security firms hired by people like Nick Elworthy whose Farrari was stolen last year, which typically cost about $1200 to $1700 a day.
Elworthy told the New York Times on Saturday how he was contacted by Ottawa police, who recently found his Ferrari in a shipping container after it was stolen last summer.
‘I was absolutely ecstatic when I got the call from that officer. I was literally jumping up and down,’ he said.
Ottawa-based security service Northern Force Security said a premium service ‘includes 24/7 security for individuals and businesses that provide on-site customer service.’
These agents can do everything from patrolling to screening people entering the building as well as cars – typically in eight-hour shifts, with three people splitting the amount each day.
Services that offer dogs – which Northern Force does not – tend to cost extra. The only more expensive service is typically full-time security detail, usually reserved for celebrities and politicians.
A stolen 2024 Chevrolet Corvette recovered by The Caledon Community Street Crime Unit last December. Canadian luxury car collectors go to great lengths to protect their vehicles
Toronto residents have gone to great lengths to protect their vehicles, as an estimated 90,000 cars are stolen each year in the city. Pictured: Two of 25 stolen vehicles worth more than $3.2 million were recovered by York police in January
Car theft is up across the board in Canada’s provinces — 50 percent in Quebec, 48 percent in Ontario, 34 percent in Atlantic Canada and 18 percent in Alberta — costing residents about $1.2 billion a year. Pictured: a stolen vehicle recovered by York Police
The latter gathered in Ottawa on February 8 to finally confront the far-reaching problem, which has reached crisis levels under the Trudeau administration.
“A catchy slogan is not going to stop car theft,” Trudeau said in Ottawa on Feb. 8, speaking to an array of Liberal allies, political rivals and police officers.
‘Tackling car theft means bringing law enforcement, border services, port authorities, car manufacturers and insurance companies together.’
The 52-year-old, who has been in office since 2015, continued to blame conservative predecessors for the now-year-long uptick, citing their lower spending on border security efforts.
This, he claims, has made it more difficult for him to prevent stolen cars from leaving the country – an industry that at the time was valued in the billions.
The sheer scale of theft occurring across the country, experts at the Ottawa conference said, has resulted in more than $1 billion in costs to Canadian policyholders and taxpayers.
That amount prompted the Insurance Bureau of Canada to declare that the country’s car theft surge had reached “national crisis” levels, citing how insurers paid out a record amount, equivalent to about US$890 million, in theft claims in 2022.
The last year, meanwhile, could turn out to be even worse, as 2022 is the latest year for which nationwide statistics are available for such thefts.
Still, Trudeau last month reassured Canadians that the government is aware of the problem and is already considering a number of responses, including investing in its border agency.
Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre has blamed the increase on Trudeau’s passage of Bill C-75, a law it passed in 2019 that updated bail provisions in the Criminal Code.
Others, including Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, raised increasing fines for car thieves and banning the import of key fob hacking devices like the TikTok-famous Flipper Zero.
Poilievre, meanwhile, has since taken to social media and YouTube to criticize Trudeau and his administration, claiming it is overly lenient on bail and sentencing for offenders.
He has called on Trudeau to, in turn, reverse Bill C-75, a law it passed in 2019 that updated bail provisions in the Criminal Code.
‘The Prime Minister passed, with the support of the NPD, catch and “release”, which allows career car thieves to be released on the same day they are caught stealing cars, have house arrest and receive shorter sentences, many of which are served in their living rooms watching Netflix ,” Poilievre said in Canada’s parliament this month.
‘It has led to a 100 per cent increase in car theft in Montreal and Ottawa and a 300 per cent increase in Toronto.
“Will they reverse these disastrous and reckless policies so we can stop the crime?”