The St. Joseph Police Department is urging drivers not to leave their cars unattended and idling otherwise the department said they could find them missing.

“Don’t start your vehicle and go inside and close your door and not watch your vehicle,” Wilson said. “It’s a lot more inconvenient to come out and find your car gone.”

Vehicle thefts are up in St. Joseph and Wilson said a vast majority of them are due to drivers leaving their keys in the ignition.

“They’re driving them for awhile and then basically abandoning them,” Wilson said. “We’ve recovered multiple several vehicles over the course of the past several months or two but it’s unfortunate that we have to do that.”

In 2015 there were 484 motor vehicle thefts reported, that’s 137 more than in 2014.  Thursday morning alone Wilson said there were two reports of vehicles being stolen due to drivers letting their vehicle warm-up unattended.

“It’s similar to what we’re seeing with a majority of our stolen vehicles in the city. A lot of those are vehicles that community members are choosing to warm their vehicle up and they’re leaving it running…and unfortunately some of our criminals are taking advantage when they’re doing that,” Wilson said.

Wilson said in St. Joseph there’s actually a City Ordinance that states you can’t leave a vehicle running unattended.

“That ordinance covers the city street but even in your driveways…There is remote start mechanisms that the vehicle is inoperable without the key being in the vehicle but unfortunately sometimes there is technology to get around that,” Wilson said. “My suggestion is if you’re going to warm your vehicle up to be certain that you can keep it in eye shot and know what’s going on.”