December 6, 2011 Tis The Season For Smash and Grabs

The Holiday season draws near and unfortunately draws out the dark side of humanity. As the colder temps and winter flakes fly so do the hammers smashing your car windows as you run in to do a quick errand. What's taken is that purse, computer bag, or cell phone sitting in plain view in the front seat. In less than a minute they smash, grab and are gone.

Today in Savage, MN on of these hit near the community, at a business I frequent. I have been seeing this start to rise in police reports around town as well. Churches, schools, daycares, retail... you stop for a quick second and run in. The parking lot is being watched and the move is made and your things are gone. Inside of an hour they are using your credit cards, racking up charges then they move on. Quick and dirty crime.

I am not going to go into the lack of proper identity checking at retail stores that would prevent use of an unauthorized card, but that's a different post for a different time.

The point is that these crimes are preventable or at least avoidable. It's simple really, don't leave your purse or any other valuable looking think on the seat of your car in broad daylight. Secure everything, all the time. This is a crime of opportunity and it's up to each person to remove that opportunity. Be aware of things around you. If you frequent that location, look for the out of place. The wandering, lost individual that looks out of place, chances are they are not supposed to be there. It's OK to question everything you see. Look out for others. If you are at a school and you see a purse in plain view, wait for the owner to come out and tell them how stupid it is. They will appreciate it, if not, good luck to them elsewhere.

Watch out for yourself, be smart, use common sense and watch out for others around you.

End of Line.

Posted in: crime,Minnesota