With the weather getting warmer and foot traffic picking up in communities across the area, local authorities are reminding their residents to secure vehicles, garages, homes, and personal belongings.

It's an annual issue for local communities to see a spike in crime as more people walk, looking for opportunities to swipe valuables and money. On the WHOW Morning Show, Thursday, Lincoln Police Chief Joe Meister told the Hart Media Group that property crimes are one of the most common this time of the year.

Chief Meister, like most law enforcement officials in rural Illinois, indicates that the property crimes they encounter are simply crimes of opportunity. That is why he encourages locking doors to cars, garages, sheds, and homes.

A recommendation that could be instrumental in law enforcement recovering any stolen property is for owners to have serial numbers for their property recorded somewhere. Chief Meister indicates that, particularly if a thief takes items to a pawn shop, it makes it very likely that an item can be recovered.

Chief Meister notes that they are seeing more and more items stolen from residents put up for sale on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and other online secondhand sites. He indicates it can be more difficult to recover stolen items on those platforms.