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News from Seniors And Law Enforcement Together (SALT)

Crime Prevention Safety Tips

Here are some general crime prevention safety tips that might help you avoid being a victim of residential and vehicle burglaries, as well as any frauds or scams.

1. Lock your residence and vehicles all the time. This includes both doors and all windows. Also, remove valuable items from your vehicle before locking it as well. The Holiday Season is a prime time for items from the vehicle to be stolen.

2. Place a stick or wood dowel in the sliding glass door channel of your house to make it more difficult to slide the door open. This can also be done to reinforce the locks for sliding windows.

3. Install a random timer to vary times a light or radio is on while you are gone from your home.

4. Keep outside lights on at night or have motion sensing lights that will turn on if there is any movement near
your house.

5. Have a trusted neighbor watch your home and stop all mail and newspaper deliveries when away for extended periods of time. Think twice before posting upcoming vacations on social media websites. You would be surprised how fast information can travel on these sites, and sometimes to the wrong computer screen. It is best to let friends know about your vacation after the fact.

6. If you see something or someone acting suspicious in your neighborhood, call 911 immediately to report the incident to police.

7. Don’t fall for pressure tactics from emails or telephone calls either stating you have won something or that you could be arrested if you don’t respond quickly. Never send money or personal information to someone that you don’t know or have not been able to verify their true identity.

8. Only give donations to local charities that you know are legitimate. Especially true during the holidays. There are a lot of fraudulent people trying to take from you when you are in the charitable state of mind.

9. Watch out for card skimmers on devices such as ATM machines and gas pumps. Always check ATM’s and fuel stations for any suspicious devices that have been added. Look for tamper resistant stickers that have been cut also. Report anything suspicious to the businesses immediately.

10. Check your account information often for any fraudulent activity. You should report suspicious charges on your account immediately to your financial institution.

And from all of us at TRIAD… have a wonderful December and a blessed 2017.