COVINGTON, Washington — Covington police are seeing a rise in property crime.
Last month, police said a Covington homeowner shot an armed man who was breaking into his car. The prowler is still recovering from his injuries in the hospital.
The shooting is just one example of what Covington police have been dealing with.
Covington Police Chief Andrew McCurdy said officers are trying to make sure residents take the steps to make sure this doesn't happen to them by participating in the "9PM Routine."
"We're starting kind of a campaign to get members in our community to set a timer or some sort of a reminder to every evening, before they go to bed, to check their cars, make sure there's no valuables in there," McCurdy said.
"Also to go through their home and make sure that everything is locked up and stowed away, just to not give criminals an opportunity to steal things that are easily preventable," he continued.
McCurdy said homeowners have the right to protect themselves if they feel like someone is going to harm them or their family. However, police don't want anyone to put themselves in a position where they have to use force.
"If you do confront somebody committing a crime, we want you to be a good witness, we want you to try and collect as much information as you can, and just be aware that a lot of these criminals, even though they are committing a petty theft, still may be armed or they still may be a very dangerous person," McCurdy said.