The Kalispell Police Department is working with business owners on a new way to prevent customers from becoming victims.

As part of the “Lock It or Lose It” campaign, signs have now been posted in the parking lots of Signature Theatres and Sportsman and Ski Haus reminding people to lock their vehicles and not leave any valuables inside.

Police Capt. Wade Rademacher said he borrowed the idea from another department after hearing about it at a law enforcement conference last year.

“A department in Florida initiated a ‘Lock It or Lose It’ campaign, posting signs and flyers to try to make people harder targets for thieves,” Rademacher said. “I came back here and wanted to initiate that because that’s one of the things that we have a lot of problems with.”

Rademacher said the Hutton Ranch Plaza is one of several areas where thefts from vehicles occasionally occur.

“It comes and goes,” he said. “We haven’t had one in a while, but when we do get a string of them it seems like we get quite a few, and that’s kind of the same all over town.”

The only problem is that there was no money for the signs, which cost about $30 apiece.

But when Chris Bezat, the manager of the movie theater and sporting goods store properties, heard about the program, she offered to pay for the signs.

“Hopefully other businesses see this and want to jump on board,” Rademacher said. “As many of those signs as we can get out, we would love to get out.”

Any businesses interested in obtaining signs for their parking lots can contact Rademacher at 758-7790.

Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at jdavis@dailyinterlake.com.