The mayor of Essex is calling on Colchester residents to look after one another as officials have noticed an uptick in crime.
According to Sherry Bondy, who says this summer, especially in the last month, town officials have seen a noticeable increase in thefts.
"So we just want to do a reminder to residents to make sure that valuables are not left in cars, that vehicles are locked and that make sure your property is secure and I want the community to watch out for each other right now until we get to the bottom of this."
In an effort to tackle the issue, she says she wants to make sure all streetlights are reported through the report a problem process on the Town of Essex website.
"I'm going to be working with the Town of Essex to E.L.K. to expedite, making sure that those streetlights get back on."
She says provincial police and the town are working closely together on the issue.
"Another thing that we're looking at doing is having a community safety walk in the village shortly in partnership with the OPP to look for potential places where crime could happen, and work together with the town to reduce crime in our public spaces."
Bondy says it's important for residents to utilize the OPP non-emergency number as calls to police will result in more targeted patrols and responses.
She says the date for the Colchester community safety walk has not yet been set.