Perth County high school students are being encouraged to get involved and raise awareness regarding vehicle theft prevention.
Perth County OPP, Perth Huron Insurance Brokers and lower-tier municipalities are running a video and social media poster contest for Grade 9-12 students.
Jessica Johnson, the North Perth executive coordinator and policy assistant, said the municipality felt it was important to be involved.
"When these types of crimes rise, that can impact the money we have to pay for our police services which goes back to the taxpayers. So, it's important to us to have effective use of those dollars," she said.
North Perth OPP Media Relations and Community Safety officer Barry Cookson said it's important to involve the youth, and that many of the thefts are preventable.
"We're finding a high percentage of vehicles that are stolen, the keys are left in the vehicle. It's very common for people to leave their keys under the floor mat or in the centre console and even above the visor," he said.
Officer Cookson said involving Grade 9-12 students is great because they have plenty of creative and social media savvy, and many are drivers now themselves. The contest will have four winners in across four categories, one of whom will be the grand prize winner.
Contest details can be found on the North Perth, West Perth and Perth East sites, or on the school websites.
Chuck Ellison, president of the Perth Huron Insurance Brokers, said vehicle thefts affect everyone.
"At the end of the day, it boils down to all of the clients we have, when one person loses their vehicle it costs manpower, it costs time, and it goes across on the insurance, so our idea is to try and help keep those costs across the board down," said Ellison.
Ellison said many students are driving and it's important to involve them because insurance for them isn't cheap and they need to understand and be aware of how to prevent being a victim of these crimes.
"We're trying to get the awareness out to them and get them involved in this contest, and the idea is that at the end of the day they're going to learn, and also they have a chance to win some money, too, so why not go about it and have fun while you're doing it," he said.
The grand prize winner will receive a $700 gift card.