LUBBOCK Texas – According to the Lubbock crime map, Lubbock has seen more than 80 vehicle burglaries in the past two weeks alone.

Allison Matherly, a Public Information Officer with the Lubbock Police Department said it’s common for those types of crimes to increase during the warmer months.

Shanna Smith said her car had been broken into after her son went to her car to get a pen and forgot to lock it. Smith said she found a note from her neighbor that said he had spotted someone rummaging through her car and chased them down.

“It violates your privacy whether there’s something to take or not take, somebody has been in your personal space and it’s just a terrible feeling,” said Smith, “It’s just a terrible feeling that there’s people out there who feel like they have a right to your things because they want them.”

Fortunately, Smith said nothing was stolen since she and her family are conscious of taking valuables out of their cars, something Matherly said is key in helping prevent car break-ins.

“Really anything that is visible in a vehicle can be a reason for someone to break in,” said Matherly, “If you have a Buick and a Toyota and they’re both sitting in your driveway, what we see sometimes is that the Buick’s key will be in the Toyota and the Toyota keys will be in the Buick.

Matherly said one of the most important items to take out of the car are guns.

“One of the main reasons that people break into cars in Lubbock is that they tend to find guns in cars,” said Matherly. “They will go down the street, looking for guns in cars to they can commit other criminal acts.”

Matherly also said the best thing to do in a crime situation is to gather details from a safe distance and contact police.

“We wouldn’t encourage anyone to follow somebody to another location or follow someone to get a license plate,” said Matherly.