Please remember to lock the doors to your vehicle, house, garage, shed, and other places you keep valuables. These types of property crimes have been on the rise and effected not only our town, but neighboring towns as well. Locking your doors is a simple step you can take to prevent this type of crime, as criminals look for unlocked doors and easy access to your property. Other steps you can take include:

• Do not leave large amounts of change or money in your vehicle, especially in view in places such as the console, ash tray, etc...

• Do not leave expensive electronics in your car such as laptop computers, GPS units, cell phones, iPODs, or other communication devices. Recent crime trends indicate that GPS units and iPODS are very common items that thieves look to steal. Allowing easy access by unlocked doors makes it easy for the criminals.

• Keep areas around vehicles, garages, and sheds well lit. This may be done using a motion sensor light which illuminates when there is movement in the area.

It is highly recommended that when parking your vehicle, either at home or businesses, you do not leave expensive laptops, electronic equipment, and files in view (personal or business). Recent crime trends indicate that thieves are simply looking inside of vehicles for anything that resembles a computer bag and smashing windows to gain access. Simply placing your computer bag on the floor behind a seat and/or covering it with a jacket is not sufficient protection for a thief looking into windows willing to steal a computer worth $1000's of dollars. Even if the computer is not in the bag, you may risk losing business, personal, or school files. This can compromise your identity and lead to identity theft.

If you see any suspicious activity, such as people peering into cars, holding tools/bats/batons around car windows, or any other activity that does not look right, call 911 immediately. Tell the dispatcher the town and specific location the activity is occurring and provide as much information as possible. Information that can be helpful includes: suspect(s) descriptions, suspect vehicle/plate number, description/type of vehicle the person may be breaking into, or anything you think might help us catch the people responsible for these crimes.

Do not chase or approach the suspects, but if you are able to (safely and discreetly) get a picture of the suspects/suspect vehicle/registration, it can be helpful. Remember, if it does not look right, it is worth a call.