Holiday Crime Alert: Avoid Becoming a Victim

Every holiday season in the U.S. innocent people become victims of crime resulting in theft, property damage and personal injury.

By adhering to a few personal safety strategies, a person can drastically reduce the odds of becoming a target for criminal offenders.

The law enforcement community operates utilizing the concept of the crime triangle. The crime triangle has three critical components and a criminal act cannot occur without the presence of all three elements.

The three components of the crime triangle are: the criminal offender, the crime victim and the scene of the crime.

The average person can take steps to help reduce the odds of becoming a victim and eliminate the opportunity for a criminal to target him or her. Adherence to the following personal crime prevention strategies can minimize the chances of becoming a target for criminal offenders during the holiday season.

Avoid Distractions

During busy holiday shopping, dining and socializing, it’s easy to be distracted by electronic devices such as cell phones, GPS units and other mobile data devices. Criminals prey on those who appear to be distracted, not familiar with their surroundings and generally nonobservant.

The best way to avoid being victimized by a criminal with the intent of committing robbery or theft is to remain observant of your surroundings, plan your travel ahead of time and avoid distracting phone calls, texts and music.

Conceal Valuable Items

One of the simplest strategies that can be used to avoid being a victim of theft is to keep valuable items such as phones, jewelry, computers and cash out of the view of criminals. This applies to valuables that are carried on the person or inside of a vehicle.

Many thieves target people and vehicles that obviously contain valuable items. By keeping valuables out of view, the chances of having property stolen are greatly reduced.

Lock Your Doors

Just as important as keeping valuables out of plain view in a vehicle is locking all doors and keeping windows closed. Many thieves will not force entry into a vehicle as the sound of breaking glass and anti-theft car alarms can draw unwanted attention.

This tip applies to the home as well. Burglars know that people are more likely to have easily accessible valuables in their homes during the holidays such as computers, televisions and jewelry. Often, these valuable pieces of property are intended to be gifts for friends and family. By keeping all doors and windows locked in the home, the odds of becoming a victim of burglary are minimized.

Don’t Advertise Your Property

During and after the holidays, many people discard the boxes that contained their gifts by placing them on the curb for the garbage man to haul away. Criminals tend to target homes that have boxes and packaging that contained expensive items such as TVs, computers and electronics sitting on the curb.

Placing these containers and boxes directly outside of the home advertises that fact that there are likely valuable items inside and can be very tempting for a burglar.