| Vehicle burglaries are a problem in many parts of the state and St. George is no exception. Thieves walk down darkened streets and look inside vehicles. If they see something that looks valuable inside the car or if there’s a purse in the passenger seat, they’ll attempt to open one of the car’s doors. In far too many cases, the door opens easily and the car owner wakes up in the morning to find their property missing. This crime of opportunity can be avoided by following a few simple steps. The first thing everyone should do is make a habit of locking their car doors. A locked car door is an obstacle and the average thief isn’t going to go any further to get into your car unless you have valuables just sitting out for them to see. Only in those rare instances will a thief break a car window. They already know if they break the window, the car owner or their neighbors are going to hear it and call the police. Most items left in cars are not worth that risk. This leads to the next tip — take your valuables out of your car when you go in the house. It doesn’t matter how long you are planning to stay in the house, if you have something that could tempt a thief, carry it in with you. This is the best policy even if you’re going to have to carry your bags back out again in half and hour. Chances are, if you care about it, a thief might as well. Although these criminals tend to strike at night, they have been known to steal things out of cars in broad daylight if they have the opportunity. If a thief steals something out of your car, your home is at risk as well. You have already proven to them that you are careless with your security so they are likely to attempt to get into your house the same way they opened your car door. To avoid being a burglary victim and losing all your electronics, jewelry and other small but valuable items, you have to take steps to secure your home. The best ways to protect your home from thieves are free. Simply make sure all of your windows and doors are locked every time you leave your house. Keep your blinds down or valuables away from your windows so potential burglars aren’t able to see what’s inside your house. If you have shrubbery in your front yard, trim it so criminals don’t have a place to hide while they determine whether there is anyone inside your house. In addition to keeping your home locked, you could install a home security system. While there are many of these systems on the market today, the best ones are professionally monitored to ensure the police are alerted immediate if someone breaks into your home while you are away or asleep. As long as you remember to arm your system every time you leave the house or go to sleep for the night, you can be confident that help is on the way if anyone attempts to get into your home. Having your home or car burglarized can leave you feeling violated. In most cases, the thieves are never caught. When they are, there’s only a slim chance the victim can recover their property. Preventing this kind of crime requires diligence but as long as you are careful to keep things that are valuable to you out of reach, the likelihood of you or your family being a victim to this type of crime will decrease. Often, when one car on the street is broken into, others are as well. Neighborhood watch groups, or even concerned neighbors who look out for each other without a formal title, can stop these criminals from victimizing their friends and neighbors. St. George is one of the safer cities in Utah because residents pay attention and deter thieves from preying on the community. It will take current and future residents to keep the city a nice place to live and work. This can only be done by neighbors getting to know each other and contacting the police when they see something suspicious going on in their neighborhood. People today are busy and in many places, neighbors on the same street don’t know each other. It’s difficult to know when someone’s behavior is suspicious if you don’t know whether they are supposed to be on the street. Take some time to get to know the people who live near you and everyone will benefit. Police recommend a few things that will help keep you safe while you shop: Park in lit areas. The sun goes down early in the winter and you don’t want to leave the mall in the dark with packages.Hold on to your purse and other bags. Criminals are fast. Don’t give them an opportunity to take your things.Don’t leave children alone in your car with it running. A running vehicle is an invitation to thieves. The car can be replaced. Your children can’t.Have your packages delivered to an alternate location if you won’t be home to receive them. Unattended packages are taken by thieves every day. Follow these tips and pass them on to your neighbors so you can all work together to keep St. George a great place to live. |
