Full Notification

During the year-end holidays, people are often busy, excited and sometimes a little bit careless. This time of year is easy for people to fall victims of crime. During the holiday season we tend to see property crimes somewhat increase. This may tend to play especially true with our current economic situation. In the light of recent burglaries and entering autos we would ask that everyone please be extra cautious and follow a few helpful tips to keep you, your family and friends safe.

Here are a few helpful tips to help make it through the holidays safely:

At Home

• Be extra cautious about locking doors and windows when you leave your house or apartment, even for a few minutes.
• Don’t display holiday gifts where they can be seen from a window or doorway. Store gifts before you go away on a holiday trip.
• If you go out for the evening, turn on lights and a radio or television so the house or apartment appears to be occupied.
• If you take a holiday trip away from your home, have some interior lights activated by an automatic timer. Have a neighbor or family member watch your house, shovel new snow, pick up the mail and newspaper and park his or her motor vehicle in your driveway from time to time.
• Participate in Operation Identification and mark your valuables with a unique identification number.
• Be wary of strangers soliciting for charitable donations. They may attempt to take advantage of people’s generosity during the holidays. Ask for identification, how donated funds are used, if contributions are tax deductible, etc. If you aren’t satisfied with the answers, don’t give.
• Immediately after the holidays, mark new gifts with an identification number and record new serial numbers.
• Test your smoke detectors.
• Use only fire resistant ornaments on a holiday tree and make sure electric lights are in good working order. Don’t leave the lights on overnight or when you are away from home.
• If you have house guests, advise them of your security precautions and make sure they follow them.
• Avoid leaving boxes from purchases (especially TV’s, VCR’s, computer, etc.) out on the curb for trash pickup.





Shopping

• Shop before dark if possible. Possibly coordinate shopping trips with a friend. Never park in an unlit lot or area, no matter how convenient it is.
• Lock your packages and gifts in your vehicle’s trunk. Keep you vehicle’s doors locked and windows closed.
• Avoid carrying large amounts of cash. Pay for purchases with a check, credit card, or debit card when possible.
• To discourage purse-snatchers, don’t overburden yourself with packages. Have your purchases delivered whenever practical.
• Be extra careful with purses and wallets. Carry a purse under your arm. Keep a wallet in an inside jacket pocket, not a back trouser pocket.
• Teach children to go to a store clerk or security guard and ask for help if you become separated. They should never go into a parking lot alone.

We would like to reiterate that it is important to make sure you don’t advertise yourself as a victim, everyone likes to place their Christmas tree in front of a window and leave the blinds/curtains open for everyone to see. If doing this please make sure that you cannot see gifts, televisions or valuables from outside. It is also important to make sure that valuables are not left in vehicles. If you must leave items in the vehicle make sure that you secure them in your trunk or make then non visible from the outside.

In recent burglaries and entering autos, thieves have mainly taken cash, jewelry and electronics. Electronics such as flat screen televisions, I pods, GPS systems and gaming systems such as Wii’s, Play stations and X Box systems have been the main target.

The Gainesville Police Department would like to make residents aware that if they go out of town or are going to be away from their residence they may contact us at (770)-287-0893 or contact Hall County Dispatch at (770)-534-5251 to set up an extra patrol of their residence. This allows officers to know what vehicles/ subjects should be at your residence if any.

Please be aware of your surroundings and observant of others behavior. If you notice anything out of the ordinary please contact the police department. If you get a feeling that something is just not quite right then you probably need to contact the police department. Many times the police department relies on citizens to be the eyes and ears of the department.