Getting your car broken into can be a pretty frightening/frustrating thing for most people but to have the entire car stolen is on an entirely different level. One of the sad facts of life is when you live in a higher populated area, you're going to deal with more crime. It's simple math. Well, if you check the math on the CRPD when it comes to retrieving stolen cars, you'll find they have a pretty good win percentage. According to 4 Auto Insurance, the national average of stolen cars that are recovered is 59.3%. The CRPD's success rate is vastly superior to that.

According to KCRG, the CRPD has recovered 91% of stolen vehicles, from May 1 to July 31. There have been 121 stolen vehicles during that time and 110 have been returned. It should be noted that not all of the vehicles have been stolen in Cedar Rapids but a vast majority have been local to the Cedar Rapids area.

Rennie Sarchett lives in Cedar Rapids and she recently dealt with the nightmare of having a car stolen. She talked to KCRG about the experience and what happened.

My husband had taken it to work. He had about an hour left in the day had taken a late break and was walking back in and realized you know what I think I forgot my keys in the car and thought to himself you know what, I’ve got an hour left I’m right in front of the building.

Sadly, that was all the thief needed to jump in the car and drive off. If your keys are left in the car, it only takes a matter of seconds for someone to find them, and leave with your car. I've personally (knock on wood) never had a car stolen but I can imagine the worry going through someone's mind when they walk back to where they last parked their car, only for it to be gone.

The good news is the CRPD was able to locate the car in a matter of days, according to KCRG. Police Officer, Jacob Paulsen, who knows the family, found the car in an apartment building parking lot. Everything inside the car was missing but at least Rennie and her husband were able to get their car back.

The CRPD Chief, Wayne Jerman, spoke to KCRG about the amazing police work that is done to return stolen vehicles.

They do a great job spotting them and again making these recoveries, so it’s due to very progressive and proactive police work.

Having your car stolen is one of those things where you never think it's going to happen to you...until it does. It goes without saying but one of the easiest ways to make sure your car doesn't get stolen is to lock it and make sure you haven't left your keys inside.

My fiance is from a town of under 2,000 people and in her hometown, they never lock their cars. They hardly lock the doors into their houses. When we moved to Iowa 6 months ago into a bigger area, it was a bit of a learning curve for her, but thankfully she's learned to always lock the car. Even if your car is in your driveway or garage you should lock the doors. I've always thought it's better to be safe than sorry. It only takes a second to lock your car doors. It doesn't take much longer than that to have your car stolen.

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