Townsville locksmith Trevor Hyatt has been flat out this year handling stolen cars, as just last month 101 cars were stolen in the region, up on the 70 taken in July.
"We have seen a big upturn in that sort of work," Mr Hyatt said.
"Once your car is stolen you need to get the locks changed because the keys don't come back with it," he said.
In the first seven months of this year, 639 cars were stolen across the Townsville region.
Mr Hyatt said modern car locks are complex and getting a stolen car returned can take a while.
"It has got to go through an insurance assessor, through the mechanics, through us. It is quite a long time before people get their cars back," Mr Hyatt said.
The owner of Norm Hyatt Locksmiths has been echoing the pleas of police and their call on Townsville locals to get more proactive with security.
"The normal story is 'I have been broken into can you come and fit deadlocks [on our house] for us'," he said.
"I would much rather people ring and say 'can you fit a deadlock so I don't get broken into?' But unfortunately in Townsville that is not the way it works."
Young offenders a hazard to road users
Earlier this year, four teenagers lost their lives when a stolen car driven by a 14-year-old boy crashed in the Townsville suburb of Garbutt.
Last week, an external roller door of the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre was rammed by an offender driving a stolen vehicle.
Police Inspector Sean Dugger said the juveniles, who are often the perpetrators of car theft, present a real risk to other road users.
"These young drivers don't have the skills, the ability or the wherewithal to handle it … they don't drive within the road rules," Inspector Dugger said.
"If people are actually allowing their vehicles to be stolen it causes a greater risk to other members of the public who may be road users," he said.
Inspector Dugger said police find it very frustrating that offenders are so easily able to access properties and locate car keys.
"Generally offenders, when we make it difficult for them, they give up and go for a softer target," Inspector Dugger said.
