SURREY, B.C. - Surrey RCMP say there's been an increase in property crime in the city in the third quarter of this year.

"That's in line with the trend we're seeing across the Lower Mainland," said Cpl. Elenore Sturko, a media relations officer for the Surrey RCMP.

"It's (very) unsettling because I have to worry; 'Did I remember to lock the car? Did I lock the gate? Is someone climbing over?'" said Peter Jack, a Cloverdale resident.

The Surrey detachment is expected to release its statistics from July to September on Thursday.

"We ask the public to continue to report to us if they have experienced property crime or if they see suspicious activity," Sturko told CTV News.

"It actually helps us to deploy our resources and to put our overt and covert resources, including our Property Crime Target team in areas where they're going to be most of use."

Surrey RCMP's Auto Crime Team has also noted an increase in thefts from vehicles, an issue it's been funnelling resources into in recent weeks.

Police announced Monday that a man has been arrested in connection to a string of car break-ins in Cloverdale.

"They're associated to at least a dozen incidents. They have 20 charges and the investigation is still open and ongoing into other incidents, which means that the number of charges against this particular individual could go up," said Sturko.

RCMP are not releasing the man's name, but say he is known to them, calling him a "prolific offender."

He's been in custody for the last two weeks.

"The perception is that crime is rampant, it's out of control. It's not. It's a very few people doing a lot of things and to catch one prolific offender, I think, is going to take a nice big bite out of this," said Jack.

The detachment is crediting a neighbourhood-watch-style Facebook group with the man's arrest.

"In this case, the concern of the community members is actually one of the factors that helped us to end up solving a lot of these incidents, because people did share their videos and experiences over Facebook, and these people had also reported to police," explained Sturko.

She's encouraging Surrey residents to continue sharing their stories with their neighbours.

"This is like a different kind of Block Watch. Instead of meeting at someone's house, people are meeting online in different forums. These types of things are absolutely a part of public safety," said Sturko.

There's been an influx of surveillance footage of incidents in Cloverdale in recent weeks.

The videos vary from break-ins, to vehicle thefts to property crime.

One video shows a man walking onto a family's porch and stealing a wooden bench.

Another family had their lawn ornaments taken from their front yard. The display was a tribute to their late son.

"People shouldn't have to worry about nailing down their property," said Sturko.

She says the homeowners did report the incident to police.

"Even if it's a small piece of property and you feel it's insignificant, to us, that information that we can gather is actually quite significant."

Jack believes much of the crime being reported in his Facebook group is preventable.

His advice: "If people would lock their doors and not leave valuables in sight… Because it does two things. One, they obviously get your wallet and your valuables. But two, you're teaching them this is a good fishing hole and they're more likely to come back."