Toronto Police Recant Advice to Leave Car Keys at Front Door to Prevent Home Invasions

Toronto police vehicles are pictured on Driftwood Avenue in Toronto, on Feb. 18, 2024. The Canadian Press/Arlyn McAdorey

Intense social media backlash has led the Toronto police to backtrack on its advice to GTA residents to leave car keys near their front doors to prevent violent home invasions by auto thieves.

Const. Marco Ricciardi told residents during an Etobicoke town hall meeting last month to leave the keys to their vehicle in a faraday bag by the front door to avoid potentially violent interactions with car thieves. A faraday bag acts as a shield to prevent outsider hackers from tapping into the transmitter signal to steal vehicles.

“To prevent the possibility of being attacked in your home, leave your fobs at your front door,” Const. Ricciardi said during the meeting. “Because they’re breaking into your home to steal your car. They don’t want anything else.”

He pointed out that many of the thieves being arrested are armed.

“And they’re not toy guns; they’re real guns,” he said. “They’re loaded.”

The reaction on social media was both mocking and incredulous.

“Toronto Police: Just let the thieves steal your car,” auto publication The Drive said in a March 13 post on X, formerly Twitter.

“Maybe I should leave the keys on the dash. … How about enforcing theft laws?” another X user said.

The Toronto Police Service has responded with a post on X offering auto theft and home invasion prevention tips.

Police said while the advice was “well meaning, there are better ways to prevent auto theft-motivated home invasions” and offered a link to its safety tips.

“Police are concerned about an escalation in violence, where all sorts of weapons and firearms are being used to steal vehicles, and that includes during home invasions,” police said in a March 13 press release, adding that such incidents have jumped 400 percent in Toronto since last year.

Police said while residents should always prioritize personal safety over one’s vehicle, there are steps they can take to reduce the risk of theft. They are:

• Parking vehicles in a garage when possible.
• Ensuring driveways are well lit and keeping exterior lights on all night.
• Installing security cameras if possible.
• Installing a home security system and activating alarm on STAY when home and AWAY when out.
• Consider having a motion detection alarm connected to your cell phone.
• Putting security film on glass windows and doors.
• Having multipoint door locks on doors.
• Keeping backyard gates locked and ground windows secured.
• Not posting vacation dates or pictures on social media while away.
• Reporting suspicious vehicles/persons in the neighbourhood to police.

Auto Thefts on the Rise

Auto theft is a growing issue in major cities across the country. The acceleration in thefts since 2021 prompted a meeting of ​​political leaders, law enforcement, and industry stakeholders in the nation’s capital last month to discuss ways to stem the number of cars being stolen and shipped abroad.

Vehicle thefts have risen 50 percent in Quebec, 48.3 percent in Ontario, 34.5 percent in Atlantic Canada, and 18.35 percent in Alberta in 2022, according to a government press release.

There were 9,600 vehicles stolen in the Toronto area alone that year, representing a 300 percent increase since 2015, according to the Canadian Finance and Leasing Association (CFLA).

Much of the auto theft in Canada stems from organized crime, the government said, describing the operations as “highly lucrative” and “highly sophisticated” with rings operating coast-to-coast.

Stolen vehicles are being used in one of two ways, the government said. Gangs are either working with organized crime groups to send the vehicles to the Middle East and Africa, or the cars are being used to commit crimes within Canada before they are destroyed.