During 2009, the Police Department investigated 93 reports of burglary and 117 cases of theft from a vehicle. Protecting your property against burglary and theft is a year-around challenge. With spring and summer quickly approaching, now is a good time to review some easy, practical steps that can be taken to help reduce the opportunity for your property to be stolen.

• When parking your vehicle overnight, park in a closed garage whenever possible. If a garage is not available, park as close to your house as possible and use outside lights to make your vehicle and the area around it visible. Vehicles parked in the street tend to be more susceptible to break-ins and vandalism.

• Remove valuables from your vehicle whenever it is left unattended. Theft is a crime of opportunity and having valuables visible to someone outside the car is an invitation to steal. Locking property in the trunk is a better choice than leaving it in the passenger compartment.  When shopping, locking your purchases in the trunk is the best option. 

• Lock your vehicle when it is left unattended. Most of the time, property is stolen from an unlocked vehicle. Even when there are no valuables inside, entry into your vehicle gives a thief access to garage door openers and trunk lid releases. 

• Use exterior lighting at night. Well lighted neighborhoods are a deterrence to thieves and helpful to officers as they patrol. 

• Avoid making your home a storefront. Close draperies and shades at night and during the day when you are away from home. 

• Make sure windows and doors are secured with locks at night and when you are away from home. Deadbolt locks are best for doors. Reinforcing the locking mechanisms on sliding windows and doors with a length of wood in the tracks is a good idea as well. 

• If you are going away on vacation, take advantage of the police department’s Vacation Home Watch program. The form is available on our website, and provides the police department with your address, contact information, and anyone who may have access to the house in the event of a problem at your home that requires you to be contacted while you are away.