The calm, pristine streets of Westport appear to be a safe place to leave a car filled with valuables, but in reality, nobody is exempt from theft.

According to the Westport Police Department, between five and seven cars get broken into in town per month, with that number increasing lately.

“In the last couple of months, there have been two incidents in which multiple cars were entered,” Vincent Penna, Detective Commander for the department, said.

On Sept. 25, one of these events occurred in the driveway of Michael Dinshaw and Ann Martino’s, two Westport residents with children in the Westport School District. Their GPS and approximately 20 dollars worth of quarters, which the couple uses for parking meters, was stolen. The pair was told that other cars in the area were also broken into that night.

“The police took the serial number of the GPS and said that if it turned up at a pawn shop they would be notified, and they would have a better chance of finding the person who took it,” Martino said. “So far it seems like they haven’t had any luck.”

However, Martino reported that she was pleased with the way the police handled the situation.

“They were very professional and gave us as much information as they had at the time,” Martino said.

In Westport, cars are often broken into if they are not locked; windows are rarely smashed. Also, incidents are more prone to happen if goods are visible through the windows.

“People need to lock their vehicle doors and keep valuable items out of sight and secure,” Penna said.

Most Staples students are doing so already.

“Even when my car is in my driveway I make sure it’s locked,” Sarah Herbsman ’15 said. “It would be dumb not to.”

Townspeople are learning to realize that car theft is a bigger problem than some think.

“Our town seems so safe,” Zack Levin ’15, said. “I think a lot of people are careless about locking their cars because they assume that robbery doesn’t happen around here.”