What many believe to be the “official” holiday shopping season starts this Friday. With Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday upon us, it is a good time to take a minute and review some safety and prevention tips.
Have a Safe & Happy Holidays! Sgt. Parks, Sgt. Bellis, Ofc. Santiago, Ofc. Kersey & Lt. Jackson.
While Out & About:
– Be alert, aware and trust your instincts. If a situation does not feel right, pull to another part of a parking lot or walk back into a store.
– Beware of “looking” unaware by talking/texting on your phone, digging in bags or sitting parked in your vehicle after arriving or before leaving. Predators are looking for targets that seem to not be paying attention.
– Park in well-lit, populated areas.
– Place packages and bags out of view in your vehicle, either in the trunk or under a cargo shade.
– If you return to your vehicle to unload items with the intent to return shopping, move your vehicle.
Package Theft:
– Have packages shipped to your office or work location or to the home of a friend or relative who is home during the day.
– Request that a signature be required to deliver the package.
– Use the services offered by various shipping companies that allow for tracking and rerouting packages.
– Track packages and ask a trusted neighbor to look out and take the packages in when they arrive.
– When traveling, make sure to ask a family member, friend or neighbor to check for packages at your home. You may have received a gift delivery you were not expecting.
– If you observe people you do not recognize on a neighbor’s property, pay attention and if it appears they are removing packages, call police immediately and provide a detailed description of the person and direction of travel and description of a vehicle if present.
While At Home:
– Secure your home! Make sure doors and windows are locked even when you are only taking a short walk, going to dinner or inside your home.
– If you have a burglar alarm, use it every time you leave and when your family is in for the evening.
– Acknowledge knocks on your door that you are not expecting by speaking through the door or a window. It is a common tactic for burglars to knock to confirm nobody is home before they break-in.
– If you are headed out of town, ask a neighbor to park one of their cars in your driveway and submit an “Out of Town House Check” through the SeeClickFix App, online or by calling the police department non-emergency number at 404/373-6551.
I didn’t realize until this past holiday season how common package theft is. I like the idea to make sure packages are being tracked so that I know when to expect them. I heard on the news about one neighborhood that was having so many packages stolen that they started putting out “decoy” packages full of very unwanted items, and the thefts stopped after a day or two of that!