As much as we like to think Christmas brings out "good will towards men" it's not always the case.

Crime increases over the holidays as people suddenly have more expensive items in their homes and cars.

High River RCMP Sergeant Brent Hawker says added to the stress for some this year is the slumping economy.

"The Alberta economy in general has slowed considerably. People obviously need to get their family members gifts. They obviously need to put food on the table and sometimes they resort to these types of activities in order to accomplish that goal."

Hawker says the biggest problems they see over the holiday's is people having packages and other items stolen from their vehicles.

Hawker says your best bet is to make sure you're locking the doors to both your vehicle and your homes and making sure a lot of things are sitting in plain sight.