Moose Jaw Police are warning residents of the risks and situations that could arise when letting your vehicle warm up in winter. 

"Sometimes we see it where cars are left running (and) people run in some place, it's an easy target for an opportunist and the car is gone. Very frequently what we see is when vehicles are stolen and our suspicion is that they wouldn't of been stolen other than the fact that the keys were left in it,"said Chief of Police Rick Bourassa.

He added that a culprit may have been entering your vehicle for a completely different reason and the situation escalates because of what's presented. 

"Say someone is going into a car to take some change or something that they see, they find the keys, now we have a crime of opportunity... we have a stolen vehicle that's on the road."

Bourassa notes that there is one easy way to potentially avoid a car jacking.

"Don't leave valuables visible in your vehicle, it's just an invitation for somebody to break in the car and take those things. We always encourage those valuables to be out of sight, to be locked up or to be left some place else."

Police are warning residents who leave the keys in their  unlocked vehicle to warm up, if it is stolen, you're putting other drivers on the road in danger.