Jared Soares The Roanoke Times

The Roanoke Police Department has launched "Safer City Roanoke," a crime-prevention initiative to help residents guard against theft. The campaign features print ads and public service announcements urging people to properly secure their personal possessions and lock their vehicles.

Roanokers' friendliness sometimes amounts to a bad thing.

Police introduced a citywide advertising campaign to remind residents that theft happens, especially when people forget to secure their valuables or lock their cars.

"One month I recall we had something like eight vehicles taken, and six out of the eight vehicles, the keys were left in them," Police Chief Joe Gaskins said before he introduced the "Safer City Roanoke" campaign Monday at police headquarters.

The campaign is an expansion of the similar "Lock It or Lose It" initiative started four years ago.

"I think we sort of still think of ourselves as a small-town community where people won't take your belongings," Gaskins said. "But we're growing and people are changing."

In three 30-day reports -- from Nov. 12 to Dec. 11 last year, and from July 1 to July 31 and from Oct. 13 to Nov. 12 this year -- 80 percent of valuables in vehicles were stolen because cars were left unlocked, or the items weren't secured, Gaskins said. That's a problem that local advertising firm Access attempts to fix with print and outdoor ads, and television and cinema commercials.

The print spots depict people bicycling and barbecuing without the help of their bike, scooter and grill -- or "byecycle," "bye-bye-que," and "no-ped," the ads say.

In recent months, thieves have taken a large number -- maybe about 28, Gaskins guessed -- of mo-peds, with a "tremendous number" of those thefts in the Northwest and Southeast areas of the city.

But the general location of thefts depends on the "flavor of the month," Gaskins said. The campaign will be citywide and won't target specific neighborhoods, he added.

Three public service announcements, each with both male and female voice-overs, warn people to secure their bicycles and grills. They'll be shown on local television stations and at the Grandin Theatre and at movie theaters at Valley View and Tanglewood malls.

Those in attendance at the campaign unveiling -- including Mayor David Bowers, Vice Mayor Sherman Lea, City Councilman Court Rosen, City Manager Darlene Burcham and Assistant City Manager Brian Townsend -- lightly chuckled at the final commercial, when a female voice announced, "Without the right precautions, your iPod could become a ByePod."

The ads will begin to appear on Friday, Access CEO Tony Pearman said in an e-mail.

The police department has ordered about 500 windshield sun deflectors, printed with the "Safer City Roanoke" logo on the outside and advice for avoiding thefts and for safe driving habits on the inside, for distribution, police spokeswoman Aisha Johnson said.

Officers will also place "friendly reminder" fliers tucked in yellow envelopes that, from the outside, look like tickets onto windshields of potential theft victims.

Businesses including Access and Lamar Advertising Co. are donating their services to the campaign.

Online: rpdsafercity.com