(PHOTO AND STORY: KHQ.COM)
As the weather starts to heat up, so do the calls about property crime citywide. Thieves stealing anything they can get their hands on.
"A lot of the cars just around this block, and the ones most notably underneath the railroad tracks, have been getting broken into really all spring and leading now into the summer," said Dave Buescher. His car has been broken into multiple times in the last several months.
Buescher and several of his co-workers are now out hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars to fix the damage. Broken glass is scattered where cars have been broken into. The latest crime hit Adam Rouns.
"Walked out to my vehicle and had three footprints on the side passenger door," Rouns said. This damage will cost him $1,700 to replace his door. Insurance will cover part of the cost, but most of it will be coming out Rouns' pocket .
According to the Spokane Police Department's June crime report, property crime is up 52 percent for residential burglary, 64 percent for garage thefts and 17 percent for stolen cars.
So what's the fix?
According to an outside consultant, it's more cops on the street. The report says to make a noticeable change Spokane has to hire 44 more patrol officers. That would cost of more than $5 million in salary and benefits.
Dave and his co-workers say it may be worth the money.
"Every other week seems like there's a $200 incident for one of my co-workers," Dave said.
KHQ did reach out for comment about the report but have not heard back.