‘Tis thieving season, police say – think smart, lock up house and cars
December 5th, 2011 Posted in OpinionBy D. Whitney Smith
LOGAN — With burglaries in the valley up from past years — Thanksgiving week alone saw nine residential and six vehicle burglaries — police are warning residents, especially those who will be leaving the area for the holidays, to lock up.
“It’s absolutely an at-risk time of season,” said Lt. Brad Franke of Logan Police. “People are spending money on things, they’re out buying new equipment, new presents — they’re putting Christmas presents under the tree, they’re preparing to — you know, all the gifts they’re going to give to their family and friends. Then they are traveling a lot.
“This is over the holiday weekend and people are gone for a couple of days and someone has taken advantage of that and known that especially around the college that during the holidays is a time for people to be gone.
Franke said most reports show no sign of forced entry — in some cases doors are found open when residents return home from a trip out of town. However, usually burglars let themselves in through an unlocked door, help themselves to valuables and then leave no sign of being there other than missing property.
Most of last week’s residential burglaries happened near the university. Electronics, “high-dollar clothing” and undisclosed amounts of cash were the typical things reported missing, Franke said.
“This is definitely a time to be very cautious in protecting your property, locking your residence, watching out for your neighbors — you know, suspicious people in the area,” he said. “That’s really what makes Logan and the Cache Valley area different than other places is that people watch out for each other.”
Black Friday shoppers who leave items in their vehicles as they go from one store to another should consider taking expensive items home first and should definitely lock and secure their vehicles, Franke said. One report stated that an individual was seen attempting to steal merchandise from the trunk of a car.
“Just a small amount of safety on your part and extra care for your property goes a long ways,” Franke said. “If you just take the time to put things out of sight or put them into a secure place, you can save yourself a lot of heartache in protecting your property.”
Photographing property, recording serial numbers and keeping a log of property are all simple things Franke said residents can and should do to avoid being burglarize this holiday season.
“Just a little bit of common sense, a little bit of extra care really can lower your victimology level down to where your property’s hopefully going to be a little safer,” Franke said.
NW
Tags: car burglaries, house burglaries, lock up, Logan police
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