Full Notification

Over the past few weeks, Moraga Police Department officers have been investigating a number of cases of mail theft and recently, a vehicle that was stolen when the owner left the keys inside.  In these cases, the suspects were going through neighborhoods and checking mailboxes for mail and car doors to see if they were unlocked.  Mail was stolen and some vehicles were ransacked.  Unfortunately, one driver left their keys in the car.

This criminal activity is occurring in cities throughout the Bay Area.  The police chief's nextdoor neighbor (in another city) was a victim of this and the suspects were seen on video checking the door of the chief's unmarked police car.  This shows that it can happen to anyone, in any city and is easily preventable.

Please do the following to prevent these crimes:

• Do not leave mail in your mailbox overnight.  If you are away, ask a neighbor to grab your mail or do a vacation hold with the post office.
• Consider replacing your mailbox with one that locks, but allows the postal carrier to put mail inside without having to unlock it.
• Routinely review your credit card bills and check your credit to ensure no one has obtained your personal information and/or opened accounts.
• Lock your cars (even in the garage) and do not leave valuables in your car.
• Install exterior lighting triggered by motion detectors to illuminate your yard.
• Install a home video surveillance system to record activity.  This will help officers identify suspects and their vehicle.

Moraga is a very safe city, but we still need to take precautions to prevent crimes of opportunity.  Please call the Moraga Police at 925-888-7055 if you need additional information.  To report non-emergency incidents or crimes, please call Dispatch at 925-284-5010.  For emergencies, call 9-1-1.

Thank you for helping us to keep Moraga a safe community.