On a recent visit to downtown, streets and parking garages were filled with vehicles packed with goodies a burglar could easily carry away.

A reporter from The Vicksburg Post and Vicksburg Police Chief Walter Armstrong took a walking survey of downtown last week and spotted more than a dozen vehicles that were either unlocked or filled with valuables, making them a prime target for burglars.

“Criminals look for crimes of opportunity,” Armstrong said. “They look for easy targets.”

A simple solution? Lock the doors and don’t leave valuables in plain view.

“Most criminals are lazy anyway. They don’t want to exert much energy,” Armstrong said.

Between 85 and 90 percent of auto burglaries in Vicksburg involved unlocked vehicles, Armstrong said.

“They’ll check the doors to see if they’re locked and if the door is locked, they go to the next vehicle,” Armstrong said. “They’re looking for easy prey. They know if the door is locked they’re going to create a commotion by breaking a window and possibly setting off an alarm or letting someone hear them.”

Almost every week in Vicksburg a gun is stolen out of an unlocked vehicle. Stolen guns show up on the black market and are often used in the commission of crimes.

“We encourage people once they get home to take their weapon inside. If you’re going to leave it in the vehicle, make sure you put it in a secure place,” Armstrong said.

High-ticket items left in plain view included a global positioning system and a Nokia camera bag.

“People will take it to the pawnshop and sell it for little to nothing or sell it to a friend,” Armstrong said. “They’re not stealing these items in order to keep them. They’re stealing them to sell them for a profit.”

But even a backpack can draw the attention of a burglary who might be interested in breaking in to find out what else is inside.

“There might not be anything in it but books, but they don’t know that. They might think you have a laptop computer or other electronics. The safest place might be to put it in the very back of the vehicle. If you don’t have a place to put it, cover it up with something,” Armstrong said.

Seemingly innocent items such as mail with name and address can also draw the interest of criminals. Leaving a bank statement or personal identifying information in plain view is dangerous, Armstrong said.

“This day and time you have to be very careful about identity theft,” Armstrong said.

Thefts also occur frequently from the beds of trucks, Armstrong said. At least two unattended trucks had ice chests in the bed, making them easy targets for someone with sticky fingers.

“Somebody might want that ice chest this time of year. It’s a good time of year to have an ice chest,” Armstrong said.