A central Illinois law enforcement official is encouraging residents in his community and others to be mindful keeping vehicle and outside home doors locked.

Springtime weather seems to be here early this year and Monticello Police Chief Rob Bross says the nice weather gets people out and moving and not always people with the best intentions. He indicates Monticello has seen a slight uptick in burglaries to unlocked vehicles.

Chief Bross is encountering a unique situation where residents will have their vehicles burglarized and then go to social media to talk about what happened to them. He is finding people expect police to respond to those posts, something they do not do.

Individuals that have their vehicles burglarized but suspect nothing was taken will sometimes not call in the crime but Chief Bross says just knowing something happened in a certain area of the community can help them with future patrols and investigations.

Chief Bross also points out residents with video doorbells have also become increasingly helpful in investigations. For those that are comfortable doing so, the police department keeps a database of residents with a ring camera for investigations where that video footage may come in handy.