While many residents are busy planning holiday events or shopping sprees, the Elizabethton Police Department is offering some tips to help ensure the holiday happiness isn’t dampened by crime.
“With the approaching holiday season, it is common for certain types of crimes to increase,” said EPD Capt. Joy Shoun. “During this time, we also understand that individuals have very busy schedules and are commonly pre-occupied with other matters.
“For these reasons, the Elizabethton Police Department would like to remind citizens of some basic preventative measures to help lessen the opportunities of such crimes and encourage the citizens to be mindful of such things to help ensure a safe Christmas season,” she added.
Below are some shopper safety and crime prevention tips provided by the Elizabethton Police Department.
• Do not leave your personal belongings, such as a purse or wallet unattended.
“Even while shopping, do not walk away from your shopping cart and leave these personal items unattended,” Shoun said. “Thefts can occur very quickly, and due to crowded stores this time of year, suspects can leave the area very quickly, oftentimes undetected.”
Shoppers should also be mindful not to leave their purse, wallet or other belongings unattended while loading or unloading items into or from their vehicle, Shoun said. She also recommends shoppers take an inventory of personal belongings — such as purses or coats — to ensure those items are not left behind.
• Be aware of other individuals and your surroundings when entering and exiting stores.
“This includes being overly focused on the use of a cellular phone or other devices that diverts your attention from your general surroundings,” Shoun said.
Maintaining this awareness will lessen opportunities for criminals to isolate individuals as the target of crime. This helps to prevent and detect other potential criminal activity, Shoun said.
• Lock your doors.
“Many investigations involving vehicle burglaries and stolen vehicles determine that the vehicles were left unsecured and in the cases of auto theft a key had been left inside the vehicle,” Shoun said. “It is also important not to leave valuable items inside vehicles in plain view. Criminals look for easy targets and they will look for such things.”
While following these tips does not guarantee that a crime will not occur, Shoun said it is definitely is the easiest form of prevention.
“This also applies to your home or residence,” Shoun said. “Secure your doors and windows and utilize outdoor lights or motion sensors when needed.”
• Telephone scams are also very popular this time of year.
Common scams involve the callers requesting personal information and credit card information, or may say they are calling about a winning sweepstakes, Shoun said.
“We encourage citizens to be cautious when asked to submit any form of payment, by check or money order, to another party in order to claim a winning prize,” Shoun said. “This is indicative of fraud and we encourage our citizens to be cautious of these incidents. Also, as a general practice, government agencies and local utilities do not contact individuals by phone and request payment or personal identifying information over the phone.”
If anyone has a concern regarding a phone call they have received, Shoun recommends they request a contact number to which the call can be returned after verifying the information which is being provided. “Use sound judgement and be cautious before falling victim to such scams,” she said.
• Report suspicious activity or individuals.
“Be observant of activities and individuals around you,” Shoun said. “If there is something out of the ordinary that concerns you, please contact the appropriate authorities.” The adage of if you see something, say something applies to suspicious activity not just around the holiday but throughout the year.
“Our officers are aware of these concerns and trends and will be taking the necessary efforts to target these specific types of crimes,” Shoun said. “As always, with the help of the citizens and involvement by the community, we increase our ability to be effective in this effort.
“Have a safe and happy holiday season,” she added.