Officers are warning residents to secure their homes as they begin anti-burglary patrols in the run-up to Christmas.
Officers will be on the look-out for vulnerable properties, including those with unlocked doors, and will leave a calling card if they spot any homes at risk.
Around a third of all burglaries committed in North Yorkshire are carried out at insecure properties where people have left a door or window unlocked.
Officers want to drive home the message that something so simple as locking your door, closing and securing a window – even when you are at home – could help prevent a burglary.
Recent burglaries
York
Overnight on Monday 3 to Tuesday 4 December 2012, three insecure properties were entered in York, with laptops stolen from two student flats in Heworth and jewellery taken from a house in Holgate.