KALISPELL — After the arrests of two individuals involved in vehicle theft in Whitefish Monday morning, the incident made some people question why there has been an increase in this type of crime.

Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino says the department has been seeing a series of thefts within the community of property, such as cars, ATVs and other high-value items.

Sheriff Heino also said the county is investigating whether Monday’s arrests are part of a larger-scale operation, but nothing has been linked yet.

“Investigation has not shown that yet, but again, I think we look at all aspects when we look at these,” Sheriff Heino said. “Our investigators are diligently working on all those aspects and again if there’s connections to other parties and so on and so forth.”

With limited staffing in Flathead County, they will rely on community engagement to prevent and monitor crimes like this.

"Each year it seems like depending on the year we do see an increase in theft, it seems like the springtime is one of those times,” Sheriff Heino said. “I think it's important for homeowners, residents to know that please call in if there's anybody suspicious law enforcement will respond and needs to identify anybody that's, you know, hanging out in those areas."

Sheriff Heino encourages residents to secure their vehicles and other valuables to prevent further theft.

"Cameras are a huge part of that a lot of these cases are heavily reliant on video or evidence footage of those individuals committing those crimes, but again, we're trying to do everything we can, but we have to work with our community to do that," Heino said.