With gas prices up, fuel has become a hot commodity among thieves looking for opportunities to steal it and no one is immune, not even the police.

Police cars parked outside the southwest precinct at 96th Street and Mockingbird Drive were apparently no deterrent to a gas siphoning thief.

“I don't know what would be going through the mind of a criminal that would be that bold to steal gas from a police officer's vehicle in a police lot," says Omaha Police Union President Aaron Hanson.

Two police officers finishing shifts reported their personal cars hit. One lost at least five gallons while the other found evidence someone tried to pry open his locked gas cap. Though the precinct is located in an unmarked building, the cruisers parked nearby were an obvious sign of a police presence.

With the reported theft and attempted theft of gas from two private vehicles belonging to police officers, the police division is considering upgrading security at the precinct. That would include adding a security camera and improving lighting in the parking lot.

As gas prices go up, a locked gas cap might be a good investment. “They work, they're not foolproof, but for 25 bucks it's pretty good insurance to save yourself the hassle of someone siphoning out of your tank,” says auto expert Jim Champion.

Champion says many newer cars have a ball plug to prevent fires in rollover accidents and that also restricts siphoning, but he's seen reports of thieves drilling holes in plastic tanks on newer vehicles. “They get underneath probably with a cordless drill, drill up through the tank, put a pan underneath."

The theft of gas from an officer's car has the police union president thinking about crime prevention of his own. “I don't have a locking gas cap,” says Hanson. “I may invest in one."

The city prosecutor says siphoning gas is a misdemeanor with tough penalties, six months in jail and a $500 fine, but prosecutions are rare because you would have to catch a gas thief in the act.